.JAMES    K.MOFFITT 


PAULINE  FORE  MOFFITT 
LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
GENERAL  LIBRARY,  BERKELEY 


nit 


<&^Q-  t, 

d^/ 


HISTORIC  PRINTING  TYPES 


HISTORIC 
PRINTING    TYPES 


A   LECTURE 

KEAD  BEFORE  THE  GROLIER  CLUB  OF  NEW-YORK,  JANUARY  25,  1885, 
WITH  ADDITIONS   AND   NEW  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BY 


THEO.  L.  DE  VINNE 


NEW-YORK 
THE    DE  VINNE    PRESS 

MDCCCLXXXVI 


Copyright,  1886, 
by  Theo.  L.  De  Vinne. 


CONTENTS. 

i  INTRODUCTION Page   9 

ii  THE  BLACK  LETTER  OR  GOTHIC  TYPE  OF  THE  EARLY  GERMAN 

PRINTERS 11 

in  EARLY  ROMAN  TYPES      .                          20 

iv  EARLY  ITALIC  TYPES 26 

v  FRENCH  TYPE-FOUNDERS  OF  THE  XVITH  AND  XVIITH  CENTURIES  .  31 

vi  DUTCH  TYPES  OF  THE  XVITH  AND  XVIITH  CENTURIES        .         .  40 

vii  ENGLISH  BLACK  LETTER 50 

vin  STYLES  OF  CASLON  AND  BASKERVILLE 59 

ix  STYLES  OF  OTHER  BRITISH  TYPE-FOUNDERS 65 

x  TYPES  OF  BODONI,  FOURNIER,  AND  OF  LATER  FRENCH  FOUNDERS  76 

xi  EEVIVAL  OF  OLD  STYLE 85 

xii  TYPES  OF  AMERICAN  FOUNDERS     .  96 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Bible  of  42  lines Page  13 

Catholicon  of  1460 17 

Contrast  of  German  and  Roman  characters         .         .         .         .         .         .  19 

Roman  of  Sweinheym  and  Pannartz,  1465             .....  20 

Roman  of  Sweinheym  and  Pannartz,  1467 21 

Roman  of  Ulrich  Hahn,  1468 21 

Roman  of  John  and  Vindelin  de  Spira,  1469.         .         .         .         .         .  22 

Roman  of  Ulrich  Gering,  1470 22 

Roman  of  Nicholas  Jenson,  1470      ........  23 

Italic  of  Aldus  Manutius        .........  27 

Italic  of  Bartholomew  Trot         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .29 

Imitation  of  Swash  letters     .........  30 

Cursive  Francois  of  Granjon      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .32 

Tory's  method  of  forming  the  letters  I  and  K         .....  33 

Tory's  method  of  forming  the  letter  Z         .......  35 

A  contrast  of  different  forms  of  serifs 38 

Explanation  of  technical  words  used  in  describing  faces  of  type         .         .  39 

Page  from  an  Elzevir  duodecimo            .......  43 

Types  attributed  to  Van  Dijck 44 

Types  of  Daniel  Elzevir,  1476 45 

Imitation  of  Italic  used  by  John  Elzevir,  1659           .....  47 

Imitation  of  Roman  of  John  Elzevir,  1659             .....  49 

Types  of  John  Brito,  1481 51 

Types  of  Caxton             ..........  52 


Imitation  of  Caxton's  types        ........       Page  52 

English  Black  of  xvith  century 52 

English  Black  with  Flemish  mannerisms            ......  53 

Moxon's  models  of  Black  Letter 54,  55 

Black  Letter  of  Fox's  "Acts  and  Monuments"  .         .         .         .         .         .  57 

Bold-face  Black  of  1825 57 

Condensed  Black  of  1855 58 

A  contrast  of  Black  Letters  of  the  dates  1825,  1885  and  1550            .  58 

Moxon's  models  of  Roman  capitals             .         .         .         .         .         .         .  59 

Types  of  Caslon     ...........  61 

Types  of  Baskerville 64 

Bold-face  style  of  Thorne 70 

Scotch-face  style 71 

Types  of  Bodoni    ...........  77 

Types  of  Jules  Didot 81 

Founder's  Large  Face  ..........  82 

Fournier's  Poetic  Face                83 

French  Condensed  Face 84 

Modernized  form  of  Old  Style 89 

Modernized  form  of  Old  Style 91 

Elzevir,  or  xvnth  Century  Old  Style 93 

"Ronaldson"  Old  Style 95 

Modern  Kourid  Face •  .         .         .         .          .  101 

Modern  Light  Face 102 

Expanded  Face 103 

Condensed  capitals 104 

Series  of  capitals  of  uniform  style 106 

The  last  novelty 107 

The  "Harper "style 108 


HISTOEIC   FEINTING   TYPES. 


O  HANDICRAFT  receives  so  much  attentive  obser- 
vation as  printing.  But  the  observation  of  the 
ordinary  reader,  however  attentive  it  may  be, 
is  usually  superficial  and  imperfect.  Types  are 
seen  but  not  regarded:  it  is  only  the  information  conveyed 
by  types  that  is  considered.  Few  general  readers  know  by 
name  the  different  sizes  or  styles  of  types ;  fewer  still  could 
identify  the  types  made  or  used  by  famous  printers. 

To  men  whose  limited  time  compels  them  to  care  more 
for  the  ends  than  the  means  of  knowledge,  this  want  of 
consideration  is  pardonable.  Life  is  short,  and  even  a 
studious  man  may  be  excused  for  neglecting  typography, 
when  English  literature  is  so  deficient  in  instructive  tech- 
nical works  on  this  subject.  Our  books  on  typography  are 
2  9 


10  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

written  for  printers,  and  interest  printers  only.  There  is 
no  popular  treatise  about  book  types;  nothing  that  gives 
us  in  succinct  and  connected  form  information  about  their 
designers  and  makers,  and  that  tells  us  why  styles  once 
popular  are  now  obsolete.1 . 

The  subject  is  not  trivial.  The  services  that  have  been 
rendered  to  literature  by  types,  and  the  esteem  in  which 
good  printing  and  fine  editions  have  always  been  held, 
should  dignify  the  agents  by  which  these  results  have  been 
produced.  Nor  is  the  subject  meager.  There  is  more  to 
be  said  "about  types  than  can  be  fairly  told  in  an  evening's 
lecture.  Much  must  be  left  unsaid.  The  origin,  and  the 
early  forms  of  letters,  and  their  frequent  changes  before  they 
were  fixed  in  types,  as  well  as  the  methods  of  making  types, 
cannot  be  described  for  want  of  time.  I  propose  to  consider 
only  the  "  faces  "  or  general  appearance  of  the  plain  types  of 
our  standard  books  —  the  faces  or  styles  that  have  been 
selected  by  eminent  printers  and  are  found  in  good  editions. 

To  do  this  fairly,  one  must  begin  with  the  Black  Letter, 
or  the  Gothic  character. 


1  Moxon's  "  Mechanick  Exercises  "  Mores  entirely  neglects  the  practical 

(London,  1683),Mores's  "Dissertation  part :  he  writes  with  wit  and  zeal  about 

upon  English  Typographical  Founders  early  English  types  and  type-founders, 

and  Founderies  "  (London,  1778),  and  but  not  always  with  exactness.    These 

Hansard's    "  Typographia"   (London,  books  are  scarce.     Hansard  is  full  and 

1825)  are  the  only  books  in  English,  exact  concerning   English  types  and 

known  to  me,  which  attempt  to  fully  founders  of  his  own  period ;    but  he 

treat  of  type-founding.     Moxon  writes  has  little  to  say  about    the  types  of 

chiefly  on  the  practice  of  type-making,  printers  on  the  Continent. 


II 

The  Black  Letter  or  Gothic  Type  of  the  Early  German  Printers. 


HE  oldest  type-printing  containing  an  authentic 
date  is  a  Letter  of  Indulgence  dated  1454,  in 
which  the  date  is  written  in.  The  oldest  type- 
printing  containing  an  authentic  printed  date  is 
the  Psalter  of  1457,  which  bears  the  imprint  of  John  Fust 
of  Mentz  and  Peter  Schoeffer  of  Grernszheim.  We  also 
know  of  a  Latin  Bible,  in  folio,  42  lines  to  the  page,  in 

First  books 

double  columns,  one  copy  of  which   contains  the  written  from  types, 
statement  of  the  illuminator  that  his  work  on  the  book 
was   finished  at  Mentz  in  the  year  1456.    And  there  is 
another   edition  of  a  Latin  Bible  in  double   columns,  36 
lines  to  the  page,  which  was  probably  done  before  1459. 

All  these  pieces  of  printing  are  correlated.  The  types  are 
of  different  sizes,  but  of  marked  resemblance  as  to  cut  or 
style.  I  shall  not  here  discuss  the  relative  claims  of  Fust 
and  Schoeffer  to  the  invention.  It  is  enough  to  say  that 
it  is  the  general  belief  that  these  books  are  the  work,  Typography 

dependent  on 

separately  or  jointly,  of  Ghitenberg,  Fust,  and   Schoeffer ;  type-founding, 
and  that  they  were  "  made  by  a  new  and  unheard-of  art," 

or,  as  the  Psalter  of  1457  explicitly  states,  "  by  the  mas- 

11 


12 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Bible  of  42 
1 1  in  -  has  the 
first  place. 


Its  value  as 
evidence  of 
early  skill. 


terly  invention  of  printing  and  also  of  type-making." 
In  this  notice,  as  in  other  notices  by  early  writers,  we 
find  the  implication  that  the  real  invention  of  printing 
was  the  invention  of  practical  types. 

One  of  these  books,  the  Bible  of  42  lines,  is  emphatically 
The  Book,  not  because  it  is  the  Bible  and  to  be  regarded 
as  the  Book  of  Books,  but  because  it  is  generally  regarded 
as  the  first  printed  book.  It  is  not  only  the  typographic 
editio  princeps  of  what  had  been  a  manuscript,  but  princeps 
facile  over  all  books,  in  matter  as  in  manner.  It  stands 
like  a  monument  at  the  great  turn  between  the  old  and  the 
new  method  of  manufacture.  It  shows  the  best  features  of 
each  method — the  dignity,  the  quaintness,  the  decorative 
beauty  of  the  manuscript,  and  the  superior  exactness  and 
uniformity  of  the  printed  book. 

The  value  of  the  work  may  be  inferred  from  the  prices 
paid  for  it  within  the  last  half  century — from  $10,000  to 
$25,000  a  copy,  according  to  condition  and  circumstances. 
These  seem  large  sums.  But  greater  prices  have  been  paid 
for  cracked  and  faded  paintings,  and  for  mutilated  statues : 
the  sum  of  $200,000  has  been  asked  in  this  city  for  a  Ma- 
donna not  larger  than  a  barrel-head,  and  as  much  by 
another  dealer  for  a  collection  of  medieval  pottery.  The 
prices  are  boldly  asked  because  the  average  buyer  has  more 
regard  for  paintings  or  pottery  than  for  books.  But  has 
not  this  book  a  greater  value  in  its  history  and  associa- 
tions I  Is  not  the  first  product  of  an  art  which  has  done 


$  tos  .  ft  poBtn  ta? 
t  tambtte  fit  ttng.^  tri 
natcamt 


ijucatmtoDu  pmit  t«u0  nifttautt  fu* 
tntteii  gtntibue  fljfiu  noraini  fuo:? 
iuiit  tqnroztsant  uttte  jj^taruifitut 
finptfl  f.poG  |ec  reutttacttrtrtj 


ta  tiaotaaificabon  m^am  illuUrut 
wquitat  tctttilpramu  Unmu  onuud 


rotu  tritttfinelaritna  lj£f  )Ftotu  a  ft 
tulof  tm&0u8ruu.wttr  ucij 


sumunt  aD  titudf  i>  ftnbm  alt 


Fac-simile  of  the  types  of  the  Bible  of  42  lines,  with  the  rubricator's 

marks  on  the  capitals.     Photographed  from  a  fragment  of  the 

original  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  David  Wolfe  Bruce. 

13 


14  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

so  much  for  the  pleasure,  the  knowledge,  the  civilization 
of  the  world  of  more  value  as  an  historical  relic  than  any 
work  of  brush  or  potter's  wheel  ?  Mine  may  be  the  pride  of 
a  man  who  magnifies  his  art,  yet  it  is  my  belief  that  the 
time  will  come  when  a  copy  of  this  Bible  of  42  lines  will 
be  held  of  more  value  than  any  painting.  For,  although 

The  work  of  a  it  is  accepted  as  the  first  of  all  printed  books,  there  is 
nothing  about  it  that  seems  experimental — nothing  that 
is  timid,  or  petty,  or  mean.  It  bears  the  stamp  and  seal 
of  a  great  invention,  and  a  perfected  invention.  One  need 
not  scrutinize  it  to  be  convinced  that  it  was  the  work  of 
a  great  inventor  who  knew  the  value  of  his  art  and  knew 
how  to  use  it. 

Looking  at  it  in  this  light  one  can  appreciate,  even  if 
he  does  not  fully  assent  to,  the  statement  of  an  eminent 

MT.  G.  w.  book-lover  that  "  the  first  book  is  better  than  the  last " ; 
that  in  strength  of  paper,  in  blackness  of  ink,  in  pictur- 
esqueness  of  letter,  and  in  many  artistic  features,  the  Bible 
of  42  lines  is  and  ever  will  be  a  model  of  style. 

Yet  it  is  a  curious  fact  in  literary  history  that  this  book, 
which  is  so  much  admired  now,  was  practically  out  of  use, 

Neglected  for  and  held  in  light  esteem  a  hundred  years  after  it  was 
printed.  The  finding  of  a  copy  in  the  library  of  Cardinal 
Mazarin  at  the  close  of  the  xvnth  century  gave  it  the 
misleading  name  of  the  Mazarin  Bible ;  its  identification 
as  the  work  of  Gutenberg  gave  it  merit  in  the  eyes  of 
bibliographers.  But  proper  recognition  came  at  a  later 


GEKMAN    BLACK    LETTEE.  15 

date ;  it  was  reserved  for  the  xixth  century  to  appraise  the 
book  at  its  true  value. 

We  have  to  ask,  why  was  this  book  so  long  neglected  I 
One  has  but  to  look  at  this  fac-simile  of  a  part  of  a  page  see  page  is. 
to  get  the  answer.  The  text  is  not  easy  to  read.  The 
types  are  black,  compressed,  and  closely  fitted  to  indistinct- 
ness; the  text  is  not  divided  in  verses;  contractions  are  fre- 
quent. The  eye  aches  for  that  relief  of  white  space  within 
and  around  each  letter  which  is  to  be  found  in  all  modern 
book  types.  No  one  who  wishes  to  read  a  Latin  Bible,  to 
read  it  and  not  look  at  it,  would  ever  select  the  Bible  of 
42  lines  if  a  modern  copy  of  the  text  could  be  had.  It 

Not  a  readable 

is  for  this  reason,  and  this  reason  only,  that  this  edition  book, 
of  the  book  fell  into  disuse.  It  was  supplanted  by  editions 
in  smaller  types  that  were  more  easily  read;  editions  that 
had  the  divisions  of  book,  chapter,  and  verse  more  clearly 
marked  by  the  printer  than  had  been  done  by  the  illu- 
minator ;  editions  in  plainer  types  that  did  not  offend  the 
eye  with  blackness.  I  put  special  stress  on  this  quality  of 
being  easily  read,  for,  whatever  may  be  the  merit  of  a 
book  in  other  features,  it  will  be  ultimately  approved  or 
condemned  by  the  reader  on  the  test  of  its  legibility. 

The  fac-simile  appended  does  not  show  the  beauty  of  see  page  is. 
the  full  page  as  that  page  appears  in  the  few  copies  that 
have  been  enriched  by  the  professional  illuminators  of  the 
xvth  century.     The  size  and  splendor  of  the  many  colored  its  beauty 

largely  made 

initial   letters,   and    the   grace  of   the    painted  decorative  by  decoration. 


16  HISTOEIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

borders,  did  much  to  relieve  the  somberness  of  the  black 
text.  It  was  the  gold  and  bright  color  put  in  by  hand 
that  made  the  book  attractive.  Deprived  of  these  graces 
the  letters  were  not  beautiful.  Without  doubt,  the  letters 
were  fairly  copied  from  some  unknown  manuscript  model ; 
fairly  copied  as  to  shape  and  size,  and  the  form  of  page 
and  arrangement  of  text  were  also  imitated.  The  printer 
supposed  that  the  blanks  which  had  been  left  for  initials 
Not  attractive  and  border  would  be  filled  in  by  the  buyer.  The  book 

w lie ii  it  wfts 

not  decorated,  was  incomplete  without  painted  initials  and  border,  for 
these  were  the  features  which  made  the  work  attractive 
to  ecclesiastics  then  as  it  does  to  artists  now.  Here  was 
a  miscalculation.  Not  every  buyer  of  the  printed  book 
had  the  ability  or  the  means  to  decorate  it.  We  may 
rightfully  suppose  that  the  largest  number  of  copies  never 
had  any  decoration.  Destitute  of  bright  color  the  text  was 
somber,  and  this  somberness  gradually  put  the  edition 
out  of  fashion. 

In  G-ermany,  this  pointed  Black  Letter  was  the  style 
always  preferred  for  the  service  books  of  the  Church.  The 
more  magnificent  the  book,  the  more  formal  and  stately 

pointed  Black  the  character.  Perhaps  the  finest  specimen  of  this  letter 
in  a  printed  book  was  shown  in  the  Bamberg  Missal  of 
1481,  which  has  text  types  three-quarters  of  an  inch  high. 

For  the  books  that  were  made  to  be  bought  and  read  by 
the  laity,  a  simpler  form  of  Black  Letter  was  in  great  favor. 
A  good  example  of  this  form  may  be  seen  in  the  Catholicon 


GERMAN    BLACK    LETTER.  17 

of  1460,  which  is  attributed  to  Gutenberg.    The  same  form 
may  be  seen  in  the  Letter  of  Indulgence  of  1454,  in  the  edi- 
tion of  Cicero  of  1465,  printed  by  Schoeffer,  and  in  many  of 
the  popular  books  of  the  early  German  printers.     This  form 
of  letter  has  no   simple  distinctive   name:    French  bibli- 
ographers call  it  Lettre  de  somme;  English  bibliographers,  Round  Gothic 
Semi-gothic.    I  have  called  it  Round  Gothic,  to  distinguish  the  laity, 
it  from  the  Pointed  Gothic. 


TrTcuuo.fl.um.ni  ICUA 
Jj^Jjcx  leqpe.o"*  <\  Icgo.gia.lcst  qi 

Tcxjlts  fcripril  afcifcensj  bonelKu^pbibcns  contT 

riu.ut  lox  c  fcnptu  po 

n*  quort«K  ct  populo  rcrpotioJntc.OolebAt 

ima^iftcr  eiwitatfe  ntm  Aliqua  Icg^m  wcllct  i 

en?  a(ccna?n?  pulpjtu  m  mooia  conoone  ct 

A  populo  fi  ucllct  illuo  Wht  cfTc.ct  Acrcpw 

nc  <\  populo  ZxHnccpcr  <p  logc  to\bcb<\f  .rni 

(JT  Gr  fciAS  q'  Icgo.^s.cof  Tc  in/pvin  fi  imptcrim 

prt>Z>»VnO?  lex  Ic^io  tenet  flAturiiin  butuo  pteri 

ti  Icqi.atm  ptimAni  pmo'.X^.Tlon  Cecct  H(A Icapi 
oontranA  Ic^'.Dc  Icgt?  nali  uiDt?  in  confcfd 
c  J5r4ttt2  paufKco  ucl  (cmio.ct  in  ba? 
bucj.pt\p  wcm  oior. Lexis  ijrerc  l<\ti 

nc  loaico.t.qudtbct  nil^iiifuox  quo  fcribi  Dcb| 

Types  of  the  Catholicon  of  1460,  attributed  to  Gutenberg. 

Neither  the  Pointed  nor  the  Bound  form  of  Gothic  was  German  print- 
entirely  acceptable  to  German  printers  and  readers  of  the  ornate  typef 
xvth  century.    Apparently  there  was  a  craving  for  more  of 
elaboration  and  complexity.    The  type  of  Erhard  Rewich, 
3 


18 


HISTOEIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Types  of  the 
Theuerdaiik. 


Fractur. 


as  shown  by  him  in  1486,  seems  the  first  departure  toward  a 
series  of  new  forms  which  finally  led  to  the  general  use  of 
the  modern  German  character.  The  types  of  the  Theuer- 
dank,1  a  poem  printed  at  Nuremberg,  in  1517,  by  Schoans- 
perger,  more  florid,  more  complex,  fuller  of  flourishes,  may 
be  accepted  as  the  motive  if  not  the  model  for  the  style  of 
type  known  as  German  Text.  Modern  taste  would  not 
accept  this  ornate  letter  as  an  improvement  on  the  older, 
simpler  form,  but  its  peculiarities  were  gradually  accepted 
by  all  German  printers.  Considering  its  angularity,  the 
name,  Fractur,  which  Germans  give  to  their  modern  Ger- 
man character  is  well  chosen.  The  Round  Gothic  letter, 
modified  and  simplified,  finds  use  among  German  printers 
under  the  name  of  Schwabacher. 

The  popularity  of  the  German  forms  of  letters  was  not 

disturbed  at  all  in  Germany  by  the  introduction  elsewhere 

of  the  Roman  character.    Educated  readers  favored  Roman 

letters,  but  they  were  not  at  all  acceptable  to  the  common 

Black  Letter  a  people  who,  as  a  class,  were  just  beginning  to  buy  books. 

favorite  In  all  . 

countries.  In  all  civilized  countries,  outside  of  Italy,  the  written  text- 
books of  schools  were  in  black  and  pointed  letters.  All  the 
early  prayer-books  and  books  of  devotion  were  in  pointed 
letters.  To  readers  accustomed  to  this  character,  a  book 
in  Roman  letter  was  not  easily  read.  This  prejudice  still 


1  This  book  shows  more  than  ordi- 
nary skill  in  type-founding.  There 
were  good  type-founders  elsewhere :  in 
1490,  Froben,  of  Basle,  printed  an 


octavo  Bible  in  Gothic  characters,  of 
the  small  size  known  to  us  as  Non- 
pareil, which  makes  about  twelve  lines 
to  the  American  inch. 


GERMAN    BLACK    LETTER.  19 

survives.  The  German  statesman,  Bismarck,  not  long  ago 
put  on  record  his  objections  to  Roman  types  in  German 
books.  He  tells  us  that  he  had,  watch  in  hand,  compared  Bismarck's 

7  '  dislike  of  the 

the  time  he  had  given  to  the  reading  of  a  page  in  Grerman  Roman  letter, 
type  and  a  page  in  Roman  type,  and  that  the  reading  of 
the  Roman  page  was  a  greater  tax  on  his  attention",  and 
required  much  more  time. 

The  reader  who  is  not  familiar  with  Grerman  will  receive 
this  opinion  with  surprise.  He  will  say  that  the  Roman 
letter,  so  much  simpler  in  form,  should  be  more  easily  read ; 
and  the  following  comparison  of  Grerman  letters  that  are 
perplexingly  similar  with  Roman  equivalents  that  are 
clearly  distinct  will  strengthen  this  conclusion: 

(£<£  ®     §  33$  3$ 

CE  G     S  BV  IF 

ff  I)    i)          baoce          i   t   I 

fs  hy          daoce          i  t  1 

Dr.  Taylor  suggests  that  the  frequency  of  the  use  of  spec- 

-        ...      Alphabet,  voL 

tacles  among  young  men  in  Germany,  as  compared  with  n.,P.  is*. 
England,  France  or  Italy,  may  be  due  in  great  part  to  the 
more  trying  nature  of  German  types. 


Ill 


Early  Roman  Types. 


Printed  in 
partnership 
from  1465  to 
1473. 


WEINHEYM  and  PANNAKTZ,   the  first   printers  in 
Italy,  began  their  work  in  the  monastery  of 
Subiaco,  near  Rome,  with  new  types   of  the 
Roman  form.    We  do  not  know  what  model 
they  had  for  the  cutting  of  this  letter.    It  may  have  been 
angular  and  faulty,'  but  it  is  more  probable  that  Swein- 
heym    and    Pannartz    could   not  entirely  free  themselves 

a  HIM  ADVERT!  fepe  Donate  plurimos  id  exifHarc: 
quod  mam  nonulli  pbilolbpbo  y  p  uta  u  crime :  non  irafd 
deu*  quom'am  uel  benefica  fie  cantumodo  n atuna  d (uma  : 
tiec  cuujnocere  preftatiffime  arcp  oprie  congruar  potad. 
uel  cerce  nil  curet  oino.ut  ne^  ex  beneb'cencia  cms  qufcq 

Sweinheym  and  Pannartz,  Subiaco,  1465.     From  their  edition  of  Lactantius. 

from  their  prejudices  in  favor  of  pointed  letters,  and  that 
they  unwittingly  made  Roman  types  with  many  of   the 
nartz  died  1476.  features  of  Black  Letter.    Their  fashion  of  Roman  is  thick 
and  compressed,  almost  as  thick  and  black  as  the  Black 


90 


EAELY    BOMAN    TYPES.  21 

Letter,  but  it  has  the  merit  of  a  proper  space  of  white 
between  the  lines.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  popular 
type,  for  when  these  printers  went  to  Rome,  they  produced 
another  form  of  Roman  type  which  was  not  so  black,  nor 
so  condensed,  but  it  was  not  more  pleasing. 

R.  ebattuf  Familiartf  rncuT  ad  me 
fcnpfit  ce  exquififTc  quibuf  i  Io/ 
cif  efT^molefteq!  ferre  cp  me  pp/ 
ter  uahcudi  nem  tua  cu  ad  urbem 
accefciflfe  non  ut  diffef  :  et  hoc  cc/ 

Sweinheym  and  Pannartz,  Rome,  1467.    From  their  edition  of  Cicero. 

Next  year,  1467,  came  to  Rome  a  rival  German  printer,  Printed  in 
Ulrich  Hahn,  who,  in   compliment  to   Italian  tastes,   also  U67toi«8. 
printed  his  first  book  in  an  imitation  of  Roman  letter. 


rncro  fctnemoria  ueterarepetenti  perbeatifa 
ifTe  .  Q^frater  till  uidcri  folet  qvu  in  optima 
RE  .  PV  :  quom  &;  honoribus  &rerum  gcf 

tar  am.  gloria,  f  lor  ercnt  cum.  uite    curfum 

Ulrich  Hahn,  Rome,  1468.     From  his  edition  of  Cicero. 

A  very  bad  imitation  it  was;  showing  just  as  distinctly 
the  influences  of  a  Grerman-like  preference  for  the  Grothic 
form.  It  was  no  improvement  on  the  Roman  of  his  rivals. 


22  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

If  we  had  never  been  provided  with  better  forms  of  Roman 
type,  Black  Letter  might  still  be  in  use  everywhere. 
John  died  U69.       The  first  fair  Roman    types  were  made  by  John  and 

Nothing  is  •  i  i 

known  of  vin-  Vuidelin  de  Spira,  of  V  emce,  and  were  shown  by  them  in 

delin  after  1477. 

Iipfa  Rcsp.tibinarrare  pofl&quo  fefebaber&: 
nonfacihus  ex  ea  cognofcerepoflesiqex  liberto 
tuo  Pbama-.ua  ell  homo  no  modo  prudens:  ue^t 
etia  uir  fquus:&  cjuod  uidi  cunofus.  Quapropter 
illc  nbt  omnia  tibi  cxplanabitJd  cnim  tmbi  &  ad 

John  and  Vindelin  de  Spira,  1469.     From  their  edition  of  Cicero. 

their  edition  of  Cicero,  of  1469.  Here  we  have  something 
of  the  roundness,  simplicity,  and  perspicuity  of  the  Roman 
character.  Yet  it  was  but  an  approximation :  the  propor- 
tions of  the  letters  are  not  good. 


tftfti-nupcc  ad  me  fuairiffimas  Gafpa/ 
tint  pergamenfif  epiftolaf  jno  a  tc  modo 
diligent  emedatas*  fed  a  tuis  quoq?  get'/ 
manis  imprefforibus  nitride  &  tcrfe  era'/ 
fcctptas*Magnam  ttbi  gcatiS  gafpannus 

Ulrich  Gering,  Paris,  1470.     From  his  edition  of  Gasparinus. 

The  first  printer  in  Paris,  Ulrich  G-ering,  was  almost  as 
unsuccessful  as  his  German  brothers  in  the  art  had  been 

Printed  from  . 

1470  to  1510.       at  Rome.    His  idea  of  a  proper  form  of  Roman  letter  is 
shown  in  this  fac-simile  of  his  types  in  1470.    This  is  not 


EAELY    ROMAN    TYPES.  23 

a  good  form.  It  does  not  surprise  us  to  learn  that  this 
face  of  type  was  only  acceptable,  barely  so,  to  the  scholars 
of  the  university  whose  printer  he  was,  and  that,  in  all 
books  for  popular  use,  he  was  obliged  to  make  use  of 
the  Round  Grothic. 

The  first  really  good  form  was  made  by  Nicholas  Jenson 

Printed  from 

at  Venice,  and  shown  for  the  first  time  in  his  edition  of  motousa. 

E  VSEBIVM  Pamphili  deeuangelicapreparatione 
latinum  ex  graco  beatiffime  pater  luflu  tuo  effeci , 
Nam  quom  eum  uinim  turn  eloquetia:  tu  multaijr 
rerum  peritiaiet  fgenii  mitabili  flumine  ex  his  quae 
iam  tradufta  funt  praeftatiflimum  fancftitas  tua  iu' 
dicet:  atqj  ideo  quaccuqj  apud  gracos  ipfius  opera 
extet  lanna  facere  fftituerit:  euangelica  praepatione 
quxin  urbe  forte  reperta  eft:  primum  aggrefTi  tra' 

Nicholas  Jenson,  Venice,  1470.    From  his  edition  of  Eusebius. 

Eusebius,  in  1470.  Compared  with  modern  letter  it  may 
seem  rude  and  coarse,  but  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of 
his  design  can  be  perceived  by  the  expert,  even  where  his 
lines  have  been  partially  obscured  by  thick  presswork  and  superiority  of 

.  .  Jenson's  form 

imperfect  copying.     One  cannot  rail  to  note  the  improved  of  Roman, 
roundness  and  clearness  and  even  lining  of  his  letter,  and 
its  general  symmetry  in  the  combinations  of  composition. 
Jenson  gave  to  Venice  a  reputation  for  typography  which 


24 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


The  types  of 
Venice  pre- 
ferred. 


Roman  type 
disliked  by 
uneducated 
readers. 


it  enjoyed  for  many  years  after  his  death.  Printers  in 
Lyons,  Paris,  and  in  Flanders  knew  that  they  would  best 
commend  their  books  to  literary  men  by  their  announce- 
ments, frequently  made,  that  the  types  they  used  were 
"the  true  Venetian  characters." 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Jenson  invented  the  Roman  char- 
acter, but  his  models  were  adopted  everywhere,  to  the 
suppression  of  all  rival  forms.  We  shall  see  that  Jenson's 
forms  were  afterward  changed  and  too  often  perverted,  but 
the  improved  taste  of  our  day  shows  an  inclination  to 
revert  to  many  of  his  peculiarities. 

The  superior  merit  of  the  Roman  character  was  not,  at 
first,  conceded  by  printers  and  readers.  Accepted  by  edu- 
cated men  everywhere,  it  was  disliked  and  rejected  by 
common  people  who  were  just  beginning  to  buy  books. 
Printers  who  were  well  supplied  with  fonts  of  Black  Letter 
intensified  the  prejudices  of  the  readers  by  their  absurd 
commendations  of  the  Black  Letter.  It  was  a  "  sublime 
letter,"  the  "most  beautiful  form,"  "unquestionably  supe- 
rior to  all  other  styles."  Black  Letter  books  found  buyers 
in  Italy,  long  after  the  introduction  of  Roman  types.  Even 
Jenson  found  it  necessary  to  print  popular  books  in  Grothic 
letters.  The  most  beautiful  books  printed  in  Paris,  the 
Books  of  Hours,  from  the  presses  of  Pigouchet  and  Kerver, 
are  all  in  the  most  pointed  form  of  G-othic  character.  '  The 
first  books  of  the  Netherlands,  and  of  England,  were  in 
pointed  letters. 


EAKLY    ROMAN    TYPES.  25 

In  Germany  the  dislike  of  Eoman  forms  was  inveterate. 
The  printers  of  the  Strasburg  classics  in  Eoman  type 
found  that  their  editions  were  neglected.  Not  even  the 
authority  and  example  of  Albert  Durer,  who  preferred  the 
Eoman  form,  could  make  that  character  popular.  Obliged  Roman  not 

accepted  in 

to  lighten  and  make  less  somber  the  old  monastic  Gothic,  Germany, 
the  German  printers  retained  all  its  angularity  and  even 
added  to  its  bristling  rows  of  ornaments  and  nourishes. 

Eeligious  prejudices  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  old 
dislike.  A  book  of  devotion,  to  be  orthodox,  must  be  in 
pointed  letters.  A  book  in  Eoman  type  savored  of  heresy. 
The  free-thinking  scholars  and  philosophers  of  Italy  were 
suspected  of  heathenism  when  they  tried  to  restore  the  Regarded  as 

a  heterodox 

letters  and  literature  of  old  Eome.  Every  book  in  the  character. 
Eoman  character  was  an  object  to  be  mistrusted.  Nor 
was  the  objection  confined  to  Eoman  letter  or  literature. 
The  early  printers  of  Paris  encountered  active  hostility 
from  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  that  city  when  they 
printed  books  in  Greek  or  Hebrew. 

Eoman  types  were  occasionally  used  in  England  by 
Eichard  Pynson,  but  the  first  book1  printed  in  England 

1  These  Roman  types  were  probably  the  printer  to  cast  a  new  Italian  letter 

made    in   France.     The   first  distinct  which  he  is  doinge,  and  it  will  cost 

mention  I  find  of  the  making  in  Eng-  him  XL  marks ;  and  loth  he  and  other 

land  of  Roman  types  is  in  a  letter  of  printers  be  to  printe  any  lattin  booke, 

Archbishop  Parker  to  Lord  Burgheley,  because  they  will  not  heare  be  uttered, 

Dec.  13, 1572:  "To  the  better  accom-  and  for  that  Bookes  printed  in  Englande 

plishment  of  this  worke,  and  other  that  be  in  suspition  abroade."    Timperley's 

shall  followe,  I  have  spoken  to  Daie  Encyclopaedia,  p.  381. 


26 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


in  1521. 


iBaac  Taylor, 
vol.  n.  p.  is*.  ' 


entirely  with  the  Roman  letter,  was  the  Treatise  by  Henry 
viii.,  on  account  of  which  the  Pope  bestowed  on  him  the 
title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith.  It  was  probably  in  defer- 
ence  to  the  Italian  taste  that  Roman  types  were  obtained 
for  &  book  intended  as  a  compliment  to  the  Pope. 


IV 


Early  Italic  Types. 

T  the  beginning  of  the  xvith  century,  the  reading 
world  was  practically  divided  in  two  classes: 
those  who  favored  Roman ;  those  who  favored 
Black  Letter.    An  eminent  printer  of  Venice, 
Aldus    Manutius.   thought  the  time  was  favorable  for  a 

Aldus  born  in 

1450.  Printed    new  form  of  printing  type.    He  selected  a  fashion  of  writ- 

from  1494  to 

ing,  then  known  as  Cursivetos  or  Cancellarius,  and  in 
high  favor  with  copyists.  The  body  marks  were  thin  and 
the  letters  condensed;  in  every  feature  more  simple  than 
the  Gothic.  It  was  very  compact,  warranting  the  belief 
that,  with  this  letter,  he  could  print  a  text  in  octavo 
which  had  before  been  done  in  quarto.  Possibly  emula- 
tion was  another  motive.  Jenson  had  earned  great  honor 


1515. 


iiB.rrn. 

f  attere  •  etntailtos  arts  adtt.ertere  crlnes* 
S  all  tet  hen  fitperi  •  cwm  tit  cluddrc  mtnad 
C  aflide  ferrdtufy  fines  '  eg)  diuitis  aurum 
H  itrmonlts  dofale  gerdro  ?ddbit  aftior  ijht 
P  ors  dens  '  drgtliatfy  babitu  prf/hbo  marittL 
C  wn  regf  coniux  ,  cum  te  mihifofyite  tetnpU 
V  otiuif  mflenddcbory  'nttncindttatilla  • 
Qjtte  petit  jt  bellantc  potcft  gtudere  marito  ' 
S  ic  eripkyl<eos  ourum  fitalcperMttf 
I  rrttpit-felcrwtfyingntit/emnamcitlt' 
E  tgraueiifiphonenfitgtuifafafurif* 
T  eSTMri^s  hie  alfa  eqttif  •  tjttam  difyare  ccettt 
C  yUarus  jgnarognerdrdt  Cdfwreprolcm' 
Q^dfpLt  kftntMn  .  Hate  m  adtu  pdrnetjia  m 
V  eller*  -fiondenft  cnnitur  rtflis  dliua  ' 
A  iy<fy  punuxdt  inter  plicxt  wfiddcrifhs 
A  rmafimliprenfaty  iu<g  m>  de  rdfur  Irt  A 
H  mctat^tndemor(e  iaculif^tfcrrea  cwrru 
S  ylti4trcmit>procnlip/e  grdutme 
E  minet'ctdypeotti&umxythona  corufat 
K  WHS  dfoUinete  cwmm  comiMntur  A 


iles  Cdri<ere(onareDidn<e, 
lucriMn'qipdrens  cythcre'u  Mejfj 
T  aygtityfkaUnx,  etolituferiEurcttc 
D  wfA  marMf  •  dew  if/e  uirof  m  pulucre  crude 
A  rcas  d  lit  •rMdaty  modos  uirttttis  ,  et  iras 
I  HQtnerdt-Hig)rtnde<inlmis3et  mortis  honor* 
D  ulctfacriMn>gtudentttatortMn  in  JAM  pdrentef 
H  orfonfur'qimeri  •  defletiam'q; 


Italic  of  Aldus  Manutius,  Venice,  1502.    From  his  edition  of  Statins. 

27 


28 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


First  book 
In  Italic. 


Peculiarities 
of  first  form. 


See  fao-simile 
of  an  Italian 
MS.  (plate 
27)  in  Hum- 
phreys' Hist, 
of  Printing. 


by  his  cut  of  Roman  types:  why  should  not  Aldus  be 
as  fortunate  1  Selecting  for  his  model  a  very  neat  manu- 
script of  Petrarch,  he  had  punches  cut  for  it  by  a  distin- 
guished goldsmith,  Francesco  Raibolini.  The  types  so  made 
were  first  shown  in  an  edition  of  Virgil,  1501,  and  the 
new  face  was  much  admired.  The  senate  of  Venice  and 
three  popes  of  Rome  gave  him  a  patent  for  its  exclusive 
use.  This  illustration  of  Aldus's  Italic  is  a  f ac-simile  from 
his  edition  of  Statius,  printed  by  him  in  1502  while  the  types 
were  still  unworn.  As  every  copy  must  be,  this  is  inferior 
to  the  original.  There  is  a  lack  of  sharpness  about  the 
lines,  but  the  thickening  of  line  is  not  greater  than  that 
of  over-inked  pages  in  the  original. 

It  differs  from  our  forms  of  Italic  in  many  points.  The 
ascending  and  descending  letters  are  unusually  long;  the 
inclination  of  the  letter  is  very  slight ;  double  or  conjoined 
letters  and  different  forms  of  the  same  letter  are  common. 
But  the  most  noticeable  peculiarity  is  the  small  upright 
form  of  capital  letters,  spaced  off,  and  standing  apart  from 
the  text.  The  incongruity  of  upright  with  inclined  letters 
did  not  trouble  Aldus.  Like  Caxton,  he  did  "but  follow 
his  copy,"  for  this  method  of  separating  capitals  was  then 
an  established  mannerism  with  Italian  copyists.  Aldus  had 
great  reverence  for  classic  forms,  and  probably  thought  that 
it  would  have  been  as  great  an  offense  to  alter  the  forms 
of  Roman  capitals,  by  giving  them  inclination,  as  it  would 
be  to  alter  or  change  the  words  of  the  text. 


EAKLY  ITALIC  TYPES.  29 

Aldus  never  seriously  changed  these  letters,  but  his  son 

7       _          .  The  Italic  of 

did,  —  not,   however,  to  their  improvement.     It  is  difficult  Paul  Manutius. 

for  a  modern  reader,  who  sees  things  with  his  own  eyes, 

and  not  through  the  spectacles  of  others,  to  perceive  the 

remarkable  beauty  which  has  been  attributed  to  the  son's 

improved  Italic.    Intending  to  make  the  letter  firmer  and 

bolder,  the  younger  Aldus  made  it  blacker  but  more  ob-  TheGiunta 

scure.    Aldus's  patent  was  not  respected.     The  rival  print-  began  to  print 

at  Venice  in 

ing  house  of  the  Giunta  made  an  imitation  :  so  did  printers  im 
at  Lyons,   who  not  only  copied  his  patented  types,   but 
printed  from  them  spurious  editions  of  Aldus's  best  books. 

Explicit  fchnfcr.Amto  dni.'M.C  C  C  C  C  .XI 
Die  Hero.q.Mttt/B  SfpfcinkrifcExpen/ij 


The  imprint  of  a  counterfeiter,  the  "honest  man,  Bartholomew  Trot." 

Aldus  intended  that  this  Italic  should  be  used  as  a  text 
letter,  and  it  was  so  used  by  himself  and  his  successors 
for  many  years.  But  Italic  never  succeeded  in  getting 
popularity  in  Germany.  It  did  not  supplant  Black  Letter  ; 
it  did  not  prevent  a  freer  use  of  the  Eoman.  In  France 
it  was  more  successful.  Geofroy  Tory,  who  had  recently  Not  successful 
returned  from  Rome  full  of  admiration  for  Italian  art, 
published  at  Paris,  in  1510,  an  edition  of  Quintilian,  in 
which  he  praised  the  new  letter  as  the  most  beautiful  of 
types.  Other  printers  used  it  as  a  text  letter,  but  it  did 
not  stay  in  fashion  long.  The  Eoman  face  of  Jenson  was 


30 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Diminished 
use  of  Italic. 


Capitals  In- 
clined by 
French  type 
founders. 


more  readable  and  was  preferred.  In  time  Italic  was 
assigned  its  present  office  as  a  display  letter  for  Eoman, 
of  which  it  is  now  the  indispensable  complement.  Yet  its 
use  is  diminishing.  One  hundred  years  ago  a  font  of 
text  type  was  made  up  of  about  nine-tenths  Eoman  and  one- 
tenth  Italic.  The  apportionment  made  by  type-founders 
of  our  time  allows  but  about  one-twentieth  of  Italic. 

Gran  j  on  of  Lyons,  as  well  as  Tory  of  Paris,  gave  to 
the  capitals  of  their  Italic  the  same  inclination  as  to  the 
small  letters,  but  Tory's  pupil,  Claude  Graramond,  thought 


^(OTHING   FOT{     THE  WHITE 
,  5^07?  THE  ^BE^IUTIFUL 

i  SEE  ONLY^J  TETTY  TYPE 

ON  </!  ^(IGGAT^DLY  T^IGE.    LE  FEVT{E. 

A  modern  imitation  of  the  old  Swash  letters. 

it  desirable  in  some  capitals  to  fill  up  the  vacant  spaces 
made  by  this  inclination,  which  he  did  by  protracting  and 
curving  lines.  These  characters  were  then  known  among 
English  printers  as  Swash  letters. 


V 

French  Type-founders  of  the  xvith  and  xvnth  Centuries. 


HE  brief  popularity  which  Italic  had  as  a  text 
letter  seems  to  have  provoked  the  founders  of 
Lyons  to  emulation.  One  of  the  number, 
Nicholas  Gran j  on,  made  himself  famous  in  all 


Founder, 

printing  houses  by  the  novelty  of  his  designs  and  the  tome  n,  p.  265. 
merit  of  his  punch-cutting.  The  "Cursive  Francois,"  or 
"Civilite,"  as  it  was  then  called,  of  which  an  illustration 
is  given  on  the  next  page,  was  made  by  him  in  1556,  in 
imitation  of  the  polite  style  of  penmanship  then  in  fashion. 
Many  books  were  printed  entirely  in  this  almost  un- 
readable letter.  Despite  its  obscurity  we  have  to  admire 
the  dash  and  swing  of  the  capital  letters.  Plantin,  of  Ant- 
werp, printed  many  books  in  this  style  of  type  with  initials 
of  wonderful  eccentricity.  The  quaintness  of  this  style 
induced  a  publisher  of  Paris,  a  few  years  ago,  to  have  the 
matrices  of  this  type  hunted  out  of  some  cellar  of  Lyons 
where  they  had  lain  disused  for  nearly  two  hundred  years, 
and  to  have  a  font  recast,  which  he  now  uses  as  a  fit 
letter  for  prefaces.  I  have  a  little  font  of  this  casting, 
from  which  this  illustration  is  taken. 

31 


32  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

Type-founding,   as   a  distinct  art.   seems  to  have  been 

Born  c.  1486. 

Died  c.  1554.       made,  unconsciously  perhaps,  by  G-eofroy  Tory,  of  Paris, 
a  true  artist  after  the  fashion  of  the  xvth  century,  —  in  other 


Or  TOM  mtari,  aur*    ^Oiet    U  '$i 


The  Cursive  Francois  of  Gran  j  on  of  Lyons 

words,  a  master  of  many  arts,  an  engraver  on  wood,  a 
painter,  a  designer  of  letters,  and  a  professor  in  the  uni- 
versity. In  1526  he  began  to  print  a  book  entitled  Champ 
Fleuri,1  in  which  he  undertook  to  reform  French  orthog- 

1  Champ  Fleury,  auquel  est  contenu  vulgairement  Lettres  Bomaines,  pro- 

Lart  et  Science  de  la  deue  et  vraye  portionees  selon  le  Corps  et  Visage 

Proportion  des  Lettres  Attiques,  quon  humain.     Ce  Livre  est  privilegie  pour 

dit    autrement   Lettres   Antiques,   et  Dix  Ans  Par  le  Roy.,  etc.    Paris,  1529. 


Geofroy  Tory's  method  of  forming  the  letters  I  and  K. 


34  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

raphy  and  typography.  Some  of  the  speculations  in  this 
book  are  fantastic  even  beyond  the  lawless  conceits  of  his 
age.  He  traced  the  derivation  of  all  forms  of  the  alpha- 
betical letters  to  the  two  letters  which  make  the  name  of 
the  mythological  goddess  10.  From  this  straight  line  and 
Tory's  rules  circle  came  all  letters.  He  made  the  human  figure  fit 

for  making  .  . 

types.  into  a  geometrical  diagram  on  which  he  planned  the 

shapes  of  letters.  To  make  letters  of  true  proportion,  he 
recommended  that  the  square  be  subdivided  with  many 
perpendicular  and  horizontal  lines.  Upon  these  subdivided 
little  squares,  with  rule  and  compass,  and  aided  by  rules 
which  he  gives,  one  may  determine  the  proper  shape  of 
every  letter.  What  use  he  made  of  this  system  cannot 
now  be  determined,  but  his  book  found  admiring  readers, 
for  it  was  reprinted  and  is  respectfully  mentioned  by  mod- 
ern French  authors  as  a  valuable  contribution  to  litera- 

Aug.  Bernard,   tore.    Not  without  reason.     Tory  made  rules  for  the  use  of 

Geofroy  Tory, 

PP.  46, 47.  the  accents,  the  apostrophe,  and  the  cedilla  of  the  French 
language.  He  reformed  its  orthography.  It  is  largely  to 
his  teachings  that  the  Black  Letter  was  gradually  dis- 
carded. That  he  was  a  good  artist  and  a  skillful  designer 
of  letters  may  be  inferred  from  the  illustrations  of  his 
book.  He  drew  letters  and  initials  for  Hemy  Stephens, 
and  probably  for  other  eminent  printers  of  Paris. 

The  patronage  given  to  typography  by  Francis  i.  of 
France,  was  the  beginning  of  a  great  printing  house, 
which,  under  the  names  of  Royal,  National,  or  Imperial, 


Geofroy  Tory's  method  of  forming  the  letter  Z. 
35 


36  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

has  survived  all  changes  in  the  French  G-overnment.  In 
this  school  of  typography  many  of  the  able  punch-cutters 
of  France  were  educated  or  developed.  One  of  the  most 

Died  i56i.  eminent  was  Claude  Graramond,  who  has  ever  since  been 
known  in  France  as  "  the  father  of  type-founders."  He 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  type-founder  for  the  trade, 
not  only  designing,  but  cutting  and  casting  types  of  all 
kinds  to  the  order  of  printers.  His  reputation  as  a  de- 
signer of  types  was  established  at  least  as  early  as  1535. 
At  the  order  of  Francis  I.  he  engraved,  in  1544,  the  three 
kinds  of  characters  which  Robert  Stephens  required  for 
his  Greek  texts.  To  him  succeeded  many  able  men,  who 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  maintained  the  fame  of 
France  as  the  leader  in  typography. 

Bom  1525.  Guillaume  Le  Be,  equally  honored  as  a  designer  of  let- 

ters and  founder  of  types,  was  a  pupil  of  Claude  Garamond 
and  of  Robert  Stephens,  for  whom  he  perfected  the  He- 
brew types  which  Stephens  used.  In  1561  he  was  firmly 
established  at  Paris,  .and  his  type-foundry  was  the  most 
celebrated  in  the  world.  At  the  request  of  Philip  n.,  he 
made  the  Oriental  types  for  the  great  Antwerp  Polyglot, 
completed  1573,  by  Plantin,  in  eight  volumes,  folio.  He 
was  also  called  to  Venice  to  cut  Hebrew  types.  His  son, 

Bom  1570  Henri  Gruillaume,  was  printer  as  well  as  engraver.  The  son 
and  grandson  of  Henri  kept  up  the  reputation  of  the  house. 

Bom  1573.  Jacques  de   Sanlecque  was  a  pupil  of    Le  Be,   and  was 

Died  1648. 

notable  for  his  Roman  type.    He  was  also  eminent  for  his 


FRENCH    TYPE-FOUNDERS.  37 

music  types,  and  for  the  Oriental  types  lie  made  for  Le 
Jay's   Polyglot   Bible.     His   foundry  was   maintained   by 
descendants  for  four  generations. 
Pierre  Moreau,  who  began  his  work  in  1640,  Jean  Cot  Foamier, 

tome  ii,  p. 

(began  1670),  and  Pierre  Esclassant  (began  1666)  were  also  xxvi.  etseq. 
noteworthy  as  type-founders,  but  they  made  no  changes  in 
Eoman  letters.  In  all  French  type-foundries,  the  punch- 
cutters  had  most  to.  do  in  making  types  for  foreign  lan- 
guages. The  modern  investigator  is  astonished  at  the 
number  and  merit  of  the  many  faces  of  Greek,  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  Syriac,  Turkish,  and  Orientals  made  during  the 
xvith  and  xvnth  centuries,  many  of  them  coming  from 
petty  or  little-known  French  foundries.  In  this  field  Dutch 
foundries  were  the  only  competitors,  for  type-founding  in 
Italy  and  Germany  had  declined  as  rapidly  as  it  began, 
and  English  type-foundries  were  then  of  no  importance. 

The  "King's  Eoman"  (Eomain  du  roi)  is  one  of  the  his- 
torical types  of  France.  In  1693,  Louis  xiv.,  wishing  to  P.  xx. 
establish  a  printing-office  in  the  Louvre,  and  to  do  it 
in  a  royal  way,  requested  the  Academy  of  Sciences  to 
aid  him  in  his  undertaking.  M.  Jaugeon,  a  member  of 
that  body,  was  instructed  by  the  society  to  devise  let- 
ters of  faultless  form,  and  to  make  characteristic  and 
original  faces  for  the  royal  office.  He  seems  to  have 
studied  Champ  Fleuri  to  purpose,  for  in  time  he  pub- 
lished a  series  of  engraved  plates,  full  of  geometrical  Tue  notions  of 

M.  Jaugeon. 

figures,  in  which  he   showed    the    fruit  of    his   teaching 


38 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


His  geometri- 
cal system. 


Founder, 
tome  I,  p.  xlx. 
note. 


aiid  of  his  thinking.  He  went  beyond  his  master.  Tory 
required  about  one  hundred  squares  for  the  framework  of 
a  letter,  but  Jaugeon  needed  2304  squares  for  every  full- 
bodied  Eoman  capital.  Italic  letters  were  to  be  con- 
structed with  as  many  rhomboids  and  parallelograms.  On 
the  squares  for  the  Eoman  letter  eight  full  circles  must  be 
drawn  to  make  an  A,  and  eleven  to  make  a  Gr.  The  system 
was  undoubtedly  scientific,  but  the  practical  punch-cutter 
of  the  royal  printing-office  refused  to  make  use  of  it, 
doubting  his  ability  to  draw  so  many  circles  and  squares 
in  the  area  given  to  small  book  types.  He  stopped  at  the 
first  rule  of  M.  Jaugeon,  "  Consult  the  eyes  as  sovereign 
judges  of  form,"  and  cut  by  eye  more  than  by  rule. 

Although  the  rules  of  Jaugeon  were  rejected,  one  of  his 
proposed  mannerisms  was  accepted  by  French  founders. 
This  mannerism  was  the  displacement  of  the  stubby,  tri- 
angular serif  at  the  ends  of  unconnected  body-marks  and 
the  substitution  of  a  flat  unbracketed  hair  line,  as  will  be 
shown  in  this  comparison  of  three  styles. 

MmMmM 


Bracketed  Serif  of  the 
Modern  Scotch-face. 


Flat  Serif  of  the 
King's  Roman. 


Stubby  Serif 
of  Garamond. 


This  change  may  seem  a  small  matter,  but  it  seriously 
obscured   the   appearance   of    types.     It   compelled   type- 


FRENCH    TYPE-FOUNDERS. 


39 


founders  to  be  more  exact  in  lining  their  letters,  but  it 

made  every  line  seem  as  if  it  had  been  ruled.    This  appear-  Not  a  wise 

ance  of  ruling  dazzled  the  eyes  and  obscured  the  character. 


change. 


— -^— Serif. 

—  Body-mark.  >^  -• 


Hair  Line. 


Kerned  letter.        Thin  letter. 


J 


m 


Full-bodied 
letter. 


Short 
letter. 


7 

Descending 
letter. 


W 


Fat  letter. 


d 


Ascending 
letter. 


The  flat  serif  weakened  the  strength  and  legibility  of  Roman 
types;  its  only  merit  was  in  the  direction  of  lightness  and 
delicacy.  Upon  poetry  and  leaded  work  this  delicacy  may 
have  been  a  satisfactory  change;  for  solid  type  and  for 
sober  books,  in  which  legibility  should  be  the  first  con- 

.  .  Made  types 

sideration,  the  flat  hair-line  serif  was  a  mischievous  inven-  weak  and  ob- 

tion.    For  the  flat  serifs  soon  thickened  or  broke  off  under 

wear,  leaving  the  body  marks  "on  their  stumps."    When 

types  in  this  condition  were  badly  printed,  as  they  often 

were,  on  poor  paper  with  weak  ink,  the  print  therefrom 

was  almost  unreadable.     The  bad  printing  of  the  xvinth 

century  is  largely  due  to  this  innovation. 


YI 


Dutch  Types  of  the  xvith  and  xviith  Centuries. 


Types  of  C. 
Van  Dyck. 


Mechanick 
Exercises, 
pp.  14-16. 


NE  of  the  most  notable  of  early  Dutch  founders 
was  Christopher  Van  Dijck,  "  the  great  master 
of  his  time  and  of  our  own,"  as  was  truly 
said  of  him  by  the  widow  of  Daniel  Elzevir. 
Although  one  of  the  ablest,  he  has  been  one  of  the  least 
known  of  type-founders.  What  is  worse,  his  types  are 
now  known  and  described  as  the  Elzevir  types,  or  xviith 
century  types.  His  individuality  seems  to  have  been 
merged  into  that  of  one  of  the  Elzevirs,  of  whose  type- 
foundry  he  was  the  manager  and  punch-cutter.  Moxon 
was  the  first  English  writer  who  discovered  his  merits, 
and  he  writes  about  him  enthusiastically,  introducing  the 
subject  with  some  quaint  remarks  on  taste  in  letter-design- 
ing which  deserve  preservation: 


I  confess  this  piece  of  judgment, 
viz.  knowing  of  true  Shape,  may  ad- 
mit of  some  controversy,  because 
neither  the  Ancients  whom  we  re- 
ceived the  knowledge  of  these  Let- 
ters from,  nor  any  other  authentick 
Authority  have  delivered  us  Rules, 
either  to  make  or  know  true  shape 


by:  And  therefore  it  may  be  ob- 
jected that  every  one  that  makes 
Letters  but  tolerably  like  Romain, 
Italick,  etc.  may  pretend  his  to  be 
true  shap'd. 

To  this  I  answer,  that  though  we 
can  plead  no  Ancient  Authority  for 
the  shape  of  Letters,  yet  doubtless 


40 


DUTCH    TYPES. 


41 


(if  we  judge  rationally)  we  must 
conclude  that  the  Eomain  Letters 
were  Originally  invented  and  con- 
trived to  be  made  and  consist  of  Cir- 
cles, Arches  of  Circles,  and  straight 
Lines;  and  therefore  those  Letters 
that  have  these  Figures,  either  en- 
tire, or  else  properly  mixt,  so  as  the 
Course  and  Progress  of  the  Pen  may 
best  admit,  may  deserve  the  name 
of  true  Shape,  rather  than  those 
that  have  not.  Besides,  Since  the 
late  made  Dutch  Letters  are  so  gen- 
erally, and  indeed  most  deservedly 
accounted  the  best,  as  for  their 
Shape,  consisting  so  exactly  of 
Mathematical  Regular  Figures  as 
aforesaid,  And  for  the  commodious 
Fatness  they  have  beyond  other  Let- 
ters, which  easing  the  Eyes  in  Read- 
ing, renders  them  more  Legible ;  As 
also  the  true  placing  their  Fats  and 
their  Leans,  with  the  sweet  driving 
them  into  one  another,  and  indeed  all 
the  accomplishments  that  can  render 
Letter  regular  and  beautiful,  do  more 
visibly  appear  in  them  than  in  any 
Letters  Cut  by  any  other  People : 
And  therefore  I  think  we  may  ac- 
count the  Rules  they  were  made  by, 
to  be  the  Rules  of  true  shap'd  Letters. 
For  my  own  part,  I  liked  their 
Letters  so  well,  especially  those  that 
were  Cut  by  Christophel  Van  Dijck 
of  Amsterdam,  that  I  set  my  self  to 
examine  the  Proportions  of  all  and 
every  the  parts  and  Members  of 

6 


every  Letter,  and  was  so  well  pleased 
with  the  Harmony  and  Decorum  of 
their  Symetrie,  and  found  so  much 
Regularity  in  every  part,  and  so 
good  reason  for  his  Order  and 
Method,  that  I  examined  the  big- 
gest of  his  Letters  with  Glasses, 
which  so  magnified  the  whole  Letter, 
that  I  could  easily  distinguish,  and 
with  small  Deviders  measure  off  the 
size,  scituation  and  form  of  every 
part,  and  the  proportion  every  part 
bore  to  the  whole ;  and  for  my  own 
future  satisfaction  collected  niy  Ob- 
servations into  a  Book,  which  I 
have  inserted  in  my  Exercises  on  Let-  ' 
ter- Cutting.  For  therein  I  have  ex- 
hibited to  the  World  the  true  Shape 
of  Christophel  Van  DijcVs  aforesaid 
Letters,  largely  Engraven  in  Copper 
Plates. 

Whence  I  conclude,  That  since 
common  consent  of  Book-men  assign 
the  Garland  to  the  Dutch-Letters  as 
of  late  Cut,  and  that  now  those 
Letters  are  reduced  unto  a  Rule,  I 
think  the  Objection  is  Answered; 
And  our  Master-Printers  care  in 
the  choice  of  good  and  true  shap'd 
Letters  is  no  difficult  Task :  For  if  it 
be  a  large  Bodied  Letter,  as  English, 
Great-Primer  and  upwards,  it  will 
shew  itself;  and  if  it  be  small,  as 
Pearl,  Nomparel,  etc.  though  it  may 
be  difficult  to  judge  the  exact  Sym- 
etry  with  the  naked  Eye,  yet  by  the 
help  of  a  Magnifying-Glass,  or  two 


42 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Commended 
by  Willerns. 


Lea  Elzevler, 
p.  Ixxix. 


if  occasion  be,  even  those  small 
Letters  will  appear  as  large  as  the 
biggest  Bodied  Letters  shall  to  the 
naked  Eye  :  And  then  it  will  be  no 
difficult  Task  to  judge  of  the  Order 
and  Decorum  even  of  the  smallest 
Bodied  Letters.  For  indeed,  to  my 
wonder  and  astonishment,  I  have 
observ'd  V.  Dijcks  Pearl  Dutch  Let- 
ters in  Glasses  that  have  Magnified 
them  to  great  Letters,  and  found 


the  whole  Shape  bear  such  true  pro- 
portion to  his  great  Letters,  both  for 
the  Thickness,  Shape,  Fats  and  Leans, 
as  if  with  Compasses  he  could  have 
measur'd  and  set  off  in  that  small 
compass  every  particular  Member, 
and  the  true  breadth  of  every  Fat, 
and  Lean  Stroak  in  each  Letter,  not 
to  exceed  or  want  (when  magnified) 
of  Letter  Cut  to  the  Body  it  was  Mag- 
nified to. 


Alphonse  Willems,  the  annalist  of  the  Elzevirs,  is  even 
more  emphatic  in  his  praise  of  Van  Dijck's  types.1 

After  reading  these  eulogies  the  reader  will  probably  be 
disappointed  when  he  examines  the  fac-simile  shown  by 
Willems  of  the  specimen  sheet  of  Van  Dijck's  types  which 
the  widow  of  Daniel  Elzevir  sent  to  Moretus,  then  the 
owner  of  the  Plantin  printing-house.  The  fac-simile,  al- 
though fairly  made,  does  not  fully  show  the  merits  of  the 


1  "All  who  seek  and  value  the  master- 
pieces that  came  from  the  Elzevir  press 
have  often  asked  the  name  of  the  ar- 
tist who  designed  and  engraved  the 
types,  the  outlines  of  which  are  so  del- 
icate, the  proportions  so  fine,  and  the 
spacing  so  intelligently  arranged, — all 
of  them  features  which  give  to  the  El- 
zevir editions  the  seal  of  the  master, 
and  which  put  them  altogether  beyond 
comparison.  Surely  the  man  who  de- 
signed this  beautiful  type  —  so  perfect 
in  its  style  that  the  phrase  Elzevirian, 
by  which  it  is  known,  has  become  in 
bibliographic  language  the  synonym  of 


perfection  —  was  not  an  ordinary  ar- 
tist, and  deserved,  not  less  than  the 
Elzevirs  themselves,  that  his  name 
should  go  down  to  posterity.  * 

"  The  name,  formerly  unknown,  of 
Christopher  Van  Dijck  is  now  attached 
to  the  history  of  printing,  and  will  add 
itself  to  the  glorious  line  of  artists  of 
all  kinds  which  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Netherlands  are  proud  of.  If  France 
mentions  with  pride  the  name  of  Claude 
Garamond  and  the  Sanlecques,  Hol- 
land can  be  proud,  too,  in  possessing 
a  master  scarcely  inferior  to  the  first, 
and  surely  surpassing  the  two  others." 


DUTCH    TYPES. 


43 


S  T  A  T  V  S 

DIVO  SEVERO  PIO. 

COLONIAVLPIATRAIANA  AVG< 

DACLEZARMIS. 


I.     O.     M. 

31OMVLO  PARENTI  ,  MARTI  AV- 
XILIATORI,  FOEU.CIBVS  AVSPI' 
CIIS  Cd-SAUlS  DIVI  NERV^  TRA- 
2ANIAVGVSTI,  CONDITA  COLO- 
•NIADACIAZARMIS,PERM.SCAV- 
RIANVMEIVSPRO  P.R. 

Sunt  przterea  in  caprovincia  monies 
auri&argentidinflimi,  ucpote  Abrug- 
lunia  ,  Zalathnia,  8c  Kerelbania,  ex  qui- 
fciis  magna  vis  ami  &  argent!  fumicur, 
&  Camera  Regix  pro  cudendis  cam  au. 
reis  quam  argenteis  monetis  applicatur. 

Abrugbania  dives  auri  oppidum,  in 
cujus  circuini  rnontes  mira  return  om- 
nium ferrilirate,  nfqueadeo  cumulative 
tolertiscerczvilceribus,  thefauros  Re- 
giis  opibus  non  indignos  alac  nempe  illi- 
cobrifum  aurum  patulis  de  moncium 
verticibus  fruftulatimprztiditur,fubter 
quorum  valles  vitrd  ^peilucidiamnes 
dccur- 

A  page  from  an  Elzevir  duodecimo. 


Van  Dijck  types.  Liberal  allow- 
ance should  be  made  for  the  worn 
types  and  the  bad  printing1  of  the 
original  specimen  sheet,  as  well  as 
for  some  falling-off,  even  from  this 
low  standard,  in  a  fac-simile  made 
by  the  process  of  photo-engraving. 
Yet  the  good  form  and  fitting-up 

0  not  entirely 

of  the  Flemish  Black  Letters  are  satisfactory, 
but  slightly  obscured  in  the  fine 
fac-simile  of  Willems :  any  punch- 
cutter  might  be  justly  proud  of 
them.  The  smaller  sizes  of  Eoman 
and  Italic  make  a  creditable  ap- 
pearance, but  all  of  the  larger  sizes 
are  not  so  good :  some  are  really 
bad.  Letters  more  uncouth  than 
those  of  the  capitals  of  the  body 
"Dubbelde  Augustijn  Kapitalen," 


1  Bad  printing  was  as  common  in  the 
xvuth  as  in  the  xixth  century.  Blades, 
writing  about  the  old  Dutch  types  of 
the  Enschede  foundry,  says:  "It  is 
difficult  even  for  a  printer  to  believe 
that  the  types  in  the  old  [Ensched6 
specimen  book  of  1757]  and  the  new 
[of  1870]  are  from  the  same  matrices. 
In  the  old  specimen  books,  the  casting 
seems  faulty,  the  fine  strokes  of  the 
letters  are  often  wanting,  and  the  face 


has  become  so  encrusted  at  the  edges  Blades  on  the 

with  hard  ink  that  the  true  shape  is  printing  of 

completely  concealed.     This   is  espe-  the  xvnth. 

•  11       •  -i-i    •    J.T-    i  T.   i  •  century. 

cially  visible  in  the  large  types  ;  but  in 

the  1870  specimens,  modern  skill  and 
careful  working  have  done  for  them 
their  best.  It  would  not  be  improbable 
that  were  the  great  Fleischman  himself 
to  see  the  result,  he  would  not  recognize 
the  types  of  his  own  cutting,  as  now 
printed."  Book-worm,  April,  1870. 


Kleene  Kanon  Curfijf. 

am  in  Imperil 

curaSublevabat.  Hollan- 
dis  ^  Zelandifque  atque  in 
Burgundis  Trxfeffu  T)efi 

Afcendonica  Romeyn. 

Quod  quifque  in  ano  eft,  fci 
unt.  Sciunt  Id  qui  in  Aurum 
Rex  reginae  dixerit  :  Sciunt 
quod  Juno;  Neque  &  futura 
in  J£  ABCDEFGHIKLMN 
OPRSTVWXUYXfflffl^ 

(  [  §  t  ?  ^  e_J>ABCDEFGHIKLMNO 
DubbeJde  Auguftijn  Kapiralen. 

ABCDEFGHIK 
LMNOPQTRU 
JVWXYZ^J:; 

A  part  of  Willems's  fac-aimile  of  the  large  specimen  sheet  of  Van  Dijck  types. 

44 


DUTCH    TYPES.  45 

of  which  a  fac-simile  is  shown  on  the  preceding  page,  were 
probably  never  shown  by  any  reputable  type-founder.1 

Moxon's  tracings  of  the  Van  Dijck  Roman  letter,  although 
rudely  done,  showing  undue  sharpening  of  the  lower  serifs, 
give  a  clearer  idea  of  its  peculiarities  of  style  and  of  its 

M.T.C.  T.  TITIOTITI  F.  LEGATO  S.D. 

Tfi  non  dubito  quin  apud  tc  mea  commendatio  pri- 
ma  fads  valeat ,  tamen  obfequor  homini  familiariili- 
mo,  C.  Aviano  Flacco  :  cujus  caufla  omnia  cum  cupio 
turn  mehercule  etiam  debeo.  De  quo  &  praefens  tecum  egi 
dfligenter ,  cum  tu  mihi  humaniflime  refpondifti ,  &  fcripfi  M  Tvllii 

ad  te  accurate  antea :  fed  putat  interefle  fua,  me  ad  te  quam  ciceronis 

faepiffime  fcribere.  Quare  velim  mihi  ignofcas ,  fi  illius  vo-  SSS^I 

luntati  obtemperans ,  minus  videbor  meminhTe  conftantiae  Amsterdam, 

tuae.  A  te  idem  illud  peto ,  ut  de  loco ,  quo  deportee  fru- 
mentum ,  &  de  tempore ,  Aviano  commodes :  quorum  u- 
trumque  per  eundem  me  obtinuit  triennium,dum  Pompeius 
ifti  negotio  praefuit.  Summa  eft ,  in  quo  mihi  gratiflimum 
facere  poCfis,  fi  curaris  ut  Avianus  ,  quum  fe  a  me  amari  pu- 
tat, me  a  te  amari  fciat.  Erit  id  mihi  pergratum.  Vale. 

Fac-simile  of  types  used  by  Daniel  Elzevir. 

real  merit  than  can  be  had  from  the  study  of  the  Elzevir 
specimen  sheet.  The  general  effect  of  this  letter  is  shown 
to  the  best  advantage  in  the  larger  types  of  some  of  the 

1  The  widow  of  Daniel  Elzevir  has  sion  that  she  could  not  direct  all  the 

said   that   these   types  were   by  Van  work  that  had  been  done  by  her  hus- 

Dijck,  but  it  is  possible  that  she  may  band.     In  other   words,    she  was  not 

have  been  deceived.     She  begins  her  an  expert  in  typography,  and  did  but 

letter  (see  page  47)  with  the  admis-  repeat  what  she  had  been  told. 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Merits  of  the 
Van  Dyck 
types. 


Typographia, 
p.  618. 


octavos  of  Daniel  Elzevir.  The  smaller  types  of  the  duo- 
decimos are  too  small  to  clearly  show  the  peculiarities  of  cut. 

Van  Dijck  seems  to  have  designed  letters  with  intent  to 
have  them  resist  the  wear  of  the  press.  The  body-marks 
were  firm,  and  the  counters  of  good  width,  not  easily  choked 
with  ink.  Hair  lines  were  few  and  of  positive  thickness. 
The  serif s  were  not  noticeably  short,  but  they  were  stubby, 
or  so  fairly  bracketed  to  the  body-mark  that  they  could  not 
be  readily  gapped  or  broken  down.  When  printed,  as  much 
of  the  Elzevir  printing  was  done,  with  strong  impression 
and  abundance  of  ink,  the  types  were  almost  as  bold  and 
black  as  the  style  now  known  as  Old  Style  Antique.  This 
firmness  of  face  explains  the  popularity  of  the  so-called 
Elzevir  letter.  It  may  not  be  comely,  but  it  is  legible.  The 
letters  may  be  stubby,  but  they  have  no  useless  lines ;  they 
were  not  made  to  show  the  punch-cutter's  skill  in  truthful 
curves  and  slender  lines,  but  to  be  read  easily  and  to  wear 
well.  Yet  to  readers  whose  standard  of  taste  is  the  deli- 
cacy of  copper-plate  engraving,  the  Elzevir  types  are,  as 
Hansard  calls  them,  types  of  "  awkward  stiffness." 

The  fickleness  of  popular  taste  is  illustrated  by  the 
fate  of  the  Van  Dijck  punches,  which  were  last  owned 
by  the  founders  Enschede.  Before  the  year  1770  all  the 
Van  Dijck  letters  were  out  of  fashion.  Michael  Fleisch- 
man,  a  German  punch-cutter  then  in  the  employ  of  the 
Enschedes,  undertook  to  renew  the  types  of  their  foundry, 
which  he  did  by  sending  all  the  Van  Dijck  punches  and 


DUTCH    TYPES.  47 

Amsterdam,  den  3  January  1681. 
Mevrouwe  : 

Wesende  te  rade  geworden  om  mijne  scbrift  gieterije  te 
verkopen,  also  ick  mijselve  niet  bequaem  oordeele  alles  te 
beheeren,  bestaet  uyt  zj  soorten  van  stempels  en  bij  50  ofMoretU8- 
soorten  van  matrijsen,  en  gemaekt  wesende  bij  Cbristoffel 
van  Dijck,  de  beste  meester  van  sijnen  en  onsen  tijdt,  en 
bij  gevolge  de  beroemste  gieterije,  die  ooyt  is  gewecst,  so  bebbe 
qulks  UE.  wel  willen  bekent  maken,  en  de  proeven  en 
catalogue  daervan  senden,  op  dat  UE.  genegentbeyt  tot 


Les  Elzevler, 

deselve  bebbende  UE.  tijdt  kan  waernemen,  en  profijt  doen.  p.  ixxxi. 
Waermede  blijve 

Mevrouwe  UEd  .... 

Pro  de  weduwe  van  Dan.  Elsevier. 

Amsterdam,  January  3,  1681. 
Madame  : 

Not  believing  that  I  am  competent  to  manage  everything,  I  have  decided  to  sell  my 
type-foundry.  It  consists  of  27  suites  of  punches  and  50  suites  of  matrices,  which  are 
the  work  of  Christopher  I/an  Dijck,  the  best  master  of  his  time,  and  of  our  own.  This 
foundry  is,  consequently,  the  most  famous  ever  made.  I  wish  to  inform  you  of  the  Translation. 
intended  sale,  and  to  send  you  the  specimens  and  the  catalogue,  so  that,  if  so  disposed, 
you  can  sei^e  the  occasion,  and  profit  by  it. 

I  am,  madame, 

Yours,  etc., 

for  the  widow  of  Daniel  Elsevier, 

Imitation  of  Italic  types  used  by  John  Elzevir  at  Leyden  in  1659. 
From  the  foundry  of  Gustave  Mayeur,  Paris. 


48 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


types. 


other  Dutch 


matrices  to  the  cellar,  and  by  cutting  entirely  new  punches 
in  imitation  of  the  prevailing  styles  of  the  leading  French 
founders.  The  new  faces  had  the  merit  of  novelty  and 
pleased  the  type-buyers  of  England  and  Holland  for 

many  F^1*8'  About  1810>  one  of  tne  descendants  of  the 
Enschede  family,  annoyed  by  the  sight  of  punches  and 
matrices  which  seemed  of  no  use,  ordered  all  of  them  to 
be  broken  up  and  destroyed.  Sixty  years  after,  Willems 
vigorously  rebuked  the  bad  taste  which  prompted  this 
wanton  act  of  vandalism.  Founders  in  Holland  and  Bel- 
gium discovered  when  too  late  that  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  merit  in  the  destroyed  types,  and  men  of  letters 
everywhere  called  for  the  reproduction  of  the  entire  series. 

^n  the  brief  time  allowed  me  I  can  say  but  little  of  other 
Dutch  founders.  Dirck  Voskens  was  a  celebrated  founder 
at  Amsterdam.  Athias  of  the  same  city  maintained  a  high 
reputation  for  his  "  Jewish  f  oundry  "  as  it  was  then  called. 
Isaac  Van  der  Putte  of  Amsterdam  deserves  as  honor- 
able mention.  There  were  other  foundries  in  the  xviith 
century  at  the  Hague,  at  Leyden,  at  Antwerp,  and  at 
Haarlem. 

Rudolph  Wetstein,  a  printer  of  Amsterdam,  inherited 
from  three  generations  of  founders  at  Basle  and  Geneva 
the  materials  of  a  great  foundry  which  he  reestablished 
at  Haarlem,  and  which  in  time  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Enschede  family.  The  Enschede  foundry  is  still  in  exist- 
ence, and  eminent  for  its  good  cuts  of  Orientals. 


DUTCH    TYPES. 


49 


AD  DANIELEM  ELZEVIRIUM,   BIBLIOPOLAM  AMSTELODAMENSEM. 


Ecquidnam  video  ?     O  Dei  Deseque  ! 

Nostros  scilicet  Elzevirianis 

Excuses  video  typis  libellos. 

O  typos  nitidos  &  elegantes  ! 

O  comptum  &  lepidum  novum  volumen  ! 

Atro  literulae  picem  colore, 

Et  candore  nives  papyrus  aequat. 

Codex  sindone  non  quotidiana, 

Et  membrana  nitet  novo  umbilico. 

Fulget  pagina  cuncta  purpurisso, 

Et  sunt  omnia  pumice  expolita. 

Tarn  comptum  &  lepidum  novum 

volumen 

Invitos  trahit  &  tenet  legentes  ; 
Et,  quas  non  habuere,  dant  habere 
Typi  versiculis  amoenitates. 


Sic  nuptae,  invida  Fata  quos  negarunt, 
Ornatrix  tribuit  novos  lepores. 

At,  6  dulce  decus  meum,  Elzeviri, 
Prsestantissime  quot  fuere,  quot  sunt, 
Typorum  pater  elegantiorum, 
Ecquid,  die  mihi,  die,  venuste  noster, 
Hoc  pro  munere,  muneris  reponam  ? 
Quas  possum  tibi  gratias  referre? 
Sic  semper  lepidos  tuos  libellos 
Facundus  probet  &  requirat  orbis. 
Sic  vestras  adeat  frequens  tabernas 
Emptor.     Sic  decus  Elzevirianum, 
Doctorum  volitans  per  ora  vatum, 
Terras  impleat,  impleatque  ccelum. 
Turnebos  simul  atque  Vascosanos, 
Et  vincas  Stephanos,  Manutiosque. 


TO  DANIEL  ELZEVIR,   BIBLIOPOLE  AT  AMSTERDAM. 

O  ye  gods  and  goddesses  !  what  do  I  see  ?  My  verses  reproduced  by  the  Elzevir 
types !  O  types  elegant  and  exquisite !  O  gracious  and  charming  volume ! 
The  dainty  types  are  as  black  as  pitch ;  the  paper  is  as  white  as  snow.  *  *  *  * 
So  gayly  attired,  the  book  attracts  and  retains  the  reader  in  spite  of  himself.  The 
types  give  charms  to  my  verses  which  they  never  had  before :  like  the  bride  to 
whom  a  skillful  hair-dresser  gives  the  graces  that  a  jealous  fate  has  denied. 

But  thou,  Elzevir,  my  sweet  ennobler !  thou,  the  father  of  types  of  incomparable 
elegance,  thou,  I  say  it  again,  most  amiable  of  friends !  what  can  I  offer  thee  in 
return  for  such  a  gift?  How  can  I  acquit  myself  of  this  debt?  May  men  of  letters 
forever  prize  and  collect  thy  bewitching  books !  May  crowds  of  buyers  be  steadily 
pressing  forward  to  thy  store  !  May  the  name  of  Elzevir,  transmitted  from  age  to 
age  by  the  songs  of  poets,  fill  the  great  globe,  and  fill  the  heavens.  Mayst  thou 
vanquish  Turnebus  and  Vascosan  ;  surpass  the  Stephens  and  the  Alduses. 

GILLES  MENAGE" 


Imitation  of  Roman  Types  used  by  John  Elzevir  at  Leyden  in  1659. 
From  the  foundry  of  Gustave  Mayeur,  Paris. 


50 


HISTOBIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Types  of 
Plantln. 


The  types  of  the  Plantin  foundry  were  not  exclusively 
Flemish.  His  Eoman  types  by  Flemish  designers  have 
no  local  or  national  features.  As  a  Frenchman,  his  tastes 
inclined  to  the  French  designers  Granjon  and  Le  Be.  He 
also  had  some  fonts  cut  in  Germany. 


VII 


English  Black  Letter. 


Types  of 
Caxton. 


Bee  page  51. 


I 


NGLISH  printing,  unlike  that  of  France,  Italy,  or 
Grermany,  began  with  a  book  in  its  own  ver- 
nacular; but  its  first  book,  the  "Recuyell  of 
the  Histories  of  Troy,"  was  printed  not  in  Eng- 
land, but  in  the  Netherlands,  by  William  Caxton,  about 
1474.  The  types  of  this  book,  as  well  as  of  the  second, 
"  The  GTame  and  Playe  of  the  Chesse,"  also  by  Caxton,  are 
unlike  the  usual  English  form  of  Black  Letter.  They 
closely  resemble  the  types  used  by  John  Brito,  of  Bruges, 
in  1481,  of  which  a  fac-simile  is  appended.  Resemblance 
may  also  be  traced  in  comparing  these  types  with  those 
attributed  to  Colard  Mansion,  another  printer  of  Bruges. 
"Whether  Caxton  made  the  types  he  afterward  used  in  Eng- 
land, or  had  them  made  in  the  Netherlands,  is  not  positively 
known,  but  he  always  preferred  the  Flemish  form  of  letters. 


ENGLISH    BLACK    LETTER.  51 

The  printers  who  followed  Caxton  —  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
Richard  Pynson,  and  William  Faques  —  were  of  French  birth 


Confer  oyue  opttr*fperirfu*  cofcue  cotfcg 


HUm  Qtlt  ft*  Typesof 

John  Brito. 


attic 

2(>tamt?5  arfe^  nutto  mon 
Qjnftrunteth  qttoqf  no))  minus 

Types  of  John  Brito,  Bruges,  1481. 

and  inheritors  of  French  tastes.  The  form  of  letters  which 
they  used  closely  resemble  the  Black  Letter  types  of  print- 
ers at  Paris  and  Rouen,  in  which  cities  books  of  devotion 


OH  0  htt  ^bmmce  noiirri^  «tj  atimme  fin 
guficnetf  ^i/f  oiw^  tc  f  rop«0  /  v£i  uo  cfc 
tx^artc  iilifft  qnc  tx  jfaeflc  fairs  vtiij 
cudl  j[c  Jttbufftc  rtp  t««u  U  c 
meat  te  f  tc0  no  Bte  cf  itccr  lJhteu)r  p 

lacfmcr  fni/ctir  be  towfcc 


Early  form  of 
Flemish  type. 


Fac-simile  of  the  types  of  the  first  edition  of  "  Recueil  des  Histoires  de 
Troye,"  printed  before  Caxton's  edition  in  English. 

were  largely  printed  to  be  sold  on  English  soil.    The  laws 
of  England  were  then  officially  printed   in  French,  and 


52  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Types  used  by 
Caxton  in  1477. 


i*  franffato  ou*  of  Jtenf    info 
#t  (UoBfe  ani  puifean*  forb 
(Qntoint  <£rfe  of  (Rpuj>er0  forb  of  |kafes 
of  ^e  3ffe  of  Tl?gg^+  ©efenbour  anb 
of  t$t  fiege  @poffofiqu^  tic.  tern; 

me  T3?tfftatn  Ca^^on 
^e  ^ear  of  out  fotb  nt*  cccc, 


Specimen  of  the  types  used  by  Caxton  in  1477. 

These  types  were  cut  by  Vincent  Figgins,  of  London,  in  1855,  and  used  by  him  in  a 
fac-simile  edition  of  "The  Game  and  Playe  of  the  Chesse." 


French  was  still  the  language  of  its  court  and  its  cultivated 
society.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  French  printers  of 
England  should  join  with  English  readers  in  a  preference 


E>f  tlje  Craft  of  ^otnttng*    cijerbe  fiue  tnancr 

prayer-books.      ^Oltt^0,    dUD    ®lttflOU0    ttlOft    Ufl&C    \Bltl)    CUUU^ng 

a^en  :  t^e  trj^icl),,  tf  tlje?  be  tneil  ufiD3  mafte  tl)e  Cen^ 
ten0  ber^  Ug^t,  anD  €fy  to  unuetttontJ,  botl)  to  tlje 
BeDeranDtl)e^erer,attn  t^e^be  t^efe  :  Otrpl,  Conic, 
?aarent^eCt0,  ^la^nt  ^o^nt  anD  Slnterrogattf*  a 
airgil  10  a  ^clenner  ^tr^fte  :  len^nge  tyrtoarne  tl)t0 
toife  /  be  tofc?n?ttge  a  L^l  ffiort  reft,  twfyout  an^ 
perf  etne0  ytt  of  £>enten& 

Specimen  of  an  early  English  Black  from  matrices  made  in  xvith  century. 


ENGLISH    BLACK    LETTER.  53 

for  French  fashions  of  types.  Black  Letter  maintained  its 
popularity  in  England  and  in  the  Netherlands  after  it  had 
fallen  into  disuse  in  France.  Obliged  to  go  to  Holland  to 
get  types,  or  the  matrices  for  making  types  (for  England 
had  no  type-foundry  of  note  before  that  of  John  Day), 
English  printers  had  to  accept  with  the  Dutch  types  some 
of  the  mannerisms  of  Dutch 


EngnshBiack 

punch-cutters.     The  English    JF&W?  ?">*??*  with  Flemish 

(Cfte  Sfernfe  ban  in  vis  fcccfepn  a  cofce,  mannerisms 

Black  Letter  of  this  period       a  *toute  .flfcm  anb  a  fa»««. 


does  not  seem  to  have  been    ^)?t*n  Joban  Oreuie  a  0oot> 

fltbe  <Cofte  toofc  anotfeer  in  feanDe  ; 
influenced  in  any  degree  by    ($fe)?  tboujjbte  notftpnge  for  to  fle, 

^ut  0ti?fl)o  for  to  stanoe. 
German  lasmons.    The  early 

__      .  .  ,  n     (Cfccre  tfeej?  founfct  sore  to  opDer, 

English      Testaments       and       <€too  mile  tea?  anb  more, 
T..,  ,  .    ,  Might  neptfter  other  fearm  done, 

Bibles   were   printed   at   Co-       (Chemountenaunceofan^oure. 


and  at  Basle    in   letters      Specimen  of  an  Early  English  Black  from 

matrices  made  in  xvith  century. 

ot    (rerman    torm,    but    the 

German  form  was  never  imitated  by  English  printers. 

The  preference  shown  by  English  readers  of  the  xvith 
century  for  Black  Letter  is  fairly  indicated  by  its  general 
employment  in  popular  English  books.  The  first  edition 
(1525)  of  Tyndall's  New  Testament  was  in  Black  Letter.  Black  Letter 
Tyndall's  Pentateuch  of  1530  was  partly  in  Roman,  but  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  an  acceptable  edition.  Cover- 
dale's  Bible  of  1535  was  in  Black  Letter.  Cranmer's  "Great 
Bible"  of  1540,  printed  by  Graf  ton  and  Whitchurch,  was  in 
Black  Letter.  In  this  form  of  type  were  also  printed  the 
authorized  prayer-books  of  the  period.  During  the  reign  of 


Models  of  Black  Letter  designed  by  Joseph  Moxon 


o 


o 


99oo  v 

as  shown  by  Mm  in  his  "  Mechanick  Exercises,"  1683. 


(55) 


56 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Catholic  Queen  Mary,  Roman  was  the  proper  text  letter  for 
books  of  devotion;  but,  under  the  reign  of  the  Protestant 
Queen  Elizabeth,  prayer-books  in  Black  Letter  had  the 
preference.  Fox's  "Acts  and  Monuments,"  intended  to 
strengthen  Protestant  zeal,  appeared,  in  the  first  edition 
of  1560,  in  the  old-fashioned  Black  Letter.  But  even  then 
there  were  indications  of  an  abatement  of  the  prejudices 
against  Roman  types.  The  printers  of  that  time,  who  must 

Roman  types 

preferred  by    have  preferred  the  Roman  letters,  so  much  easier  to  print, 

printers   and 

literary  men.  timidly  introduced  Roman  types  in  the  titles  and  head- 
lines, and  Italic  types  in  the  prefaces  of  Black  Letter  books, 
and  gradually  accustomed  their  readers  to  the  innovation. 
They  distinguished  the  classics  of  England  as  Archbishop 
Parker  did  those  of  ancient  Rome ;  the  writings  of  Bacon 
and  Shakespeare  appeared  in  Roman  types. 

Black  Letter  was  really  out  of  fashion  as  a  popular  text 
letter  at  the  close  of  the  xvith  century,  but  it  was  not  obso- 
lete. Moxon's  book  of  1683,  from  which  these  specimens 
are  taken  of  the  form  of  his  time,  shows  that  it  was  then 
regarded  as  indispensable  in  the  equipment  of  a  printing- 
It  was  largely  used  as  a  display  letter,  and,  to  some 
extent,  for  texts  of  devotional  works.  It  is  not  out  of  use 
yet.  According  to  a  recent  British  reviewer,  the  laws  of 
Great  Britain  are  still  printed  in  their  official  form  in  Black 
Letter.  In  my  belief,  the  most  admirable  form  in  which 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  has  ever  been  printed  is  the 
Black  Letter  folio  of  Pickering,  commonly  known  as  the 


Black  Letter 

not  entirely 

out  of  fashion.    OmCe. 


ENGLISH  BLACK  LETTEK.  57 

Victorian  Prayer-Book.  It  is  a  stately  volume.  I  know 
of  nothing  better,  of  nothing  so  uniformly  good  in  type, 
composition,  and  presswork  as  this  masterpiece  of  the  great 
publisher. 


&mon<j  toljom  2Dt)omas  SDomfeins,  citizen  of  &onaon  ant)      Types  of  Fox's 
Meatier  by  ttfs  occupation,  Ijatl)  tte  first  place.    Jpoto  tljose      fj^k  c 
former  persons  rtjat  Ijpttjerto  tjafoe  been  S>pofeen  of,  toere  all 
conoemneD  bt>  &tepfym  ^artjmer,br?st)op  of  Mincljester,  urtjtcl) 
tljen  teas  lj£Sl)  C^auncellour:  but  Ijc  bet?ing  noto  toear^,  as 
it  seemetl),  of  tlje  pavne  anu  trouble,  put  of  al  ttje  rest  to 
(BftmunD  HBoner,  b^stjoppe  of  ilonuon,  to  be  conuemneD  b^  t)tnt» 

Specimen  of  the  Black  Letter  of  Fox's  "Acts  and  Monuments," 
from  original  matrices. 

The  popular  taste  of  our  time  puts  aside  all  early  forms 
of  Black  Letter  as  old-fashioned,  and  altogether  too  rude. 
That  there  are  in  some  styles  occasional  letters  of  uncouth 
form  may  be  admitted  ;  but  that  many  of  the  Black  Letters 
made  in  this  century  as  improvements  on  the  old  are  any 
better,  or  even  as  good,  must  be  denied.  Here  is  the  Bold- 


<if  itto  von  atrtr  Tan  Hgftt, 
of  l>a  summit  antr  Uolroni  !  tuijnt  uiottin  i>r 
Datir  satH  of  tljts  t»jio0ra)il)ir  moiisrroofti)  .^ 

Specimen  of  the  Bold-face  Black  of  1825. 

faced  Black,  in  high  favor  with  many  printers  fifty  years 
ago.    Are  the  forms  of  capitals,  improvements  I    Here  too 


58  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

is  the  Condensed  Black,  which  had  a  more  recent  day  of 
popularity.    Its  capitals  are  neatly  flourished,  and  its  angles 


Condensed  gf  fa  %  flitf  ty$t  —  000fl   fltffUtttt    0f   t&*   tmttfb-flttttt'0 

§ut  urfoat  to*  you  tone  witft  tft*  0tr*ti0tft,  tfce 


f  the 

Specimen  of  the  Condensed  Black  of  1855. 


are  duly  bristled;  it  has  graceful  curves,  exact  angles,  and 
most  delicate  hair  lines,  but  whether  it  has  as  good  general 
effect,  whether  it  is  as  readable  or  even  as  comely  a  letter 
as  the  older  style  of  the  xvith  century,  may  be  left  to  the 
decision  of  the  reader  without  another  word  of  comment. 


1550. 


A  Contrast  of  Capitals. 


VIII 

Styles  of  Caslon  and  Baskerville. 

OSEPH  MOXON,  "mathematical  instrument  maker,  A  founder 

from  1659  to 

and  nydrographer  to  his  majesty,  Charles  u.,"  ices. 
was  the  first  English  type-founder  of  note.1    His 
types  cannot  be  compared  with  those  of  his 


more  eminent  rivals  in  France  and  Holland,  but  they  were 
better  than  those  of  other  English  type-founders  of  the 


£cale   of  J.-2.  farts  Vt'f.  the 

''-^-'-^-'-^-'--^-'-^^"^ 

Model  Letters  from  Moxon's  "Mechanick  Exercises,"  1683. 


xvnth  century.    Before  and  after  his  time,  publishers  and 

men  of  letters  preferred  foreign  types.    The  University  of  Foreign  types 

preferred. 

Oxford  in  1672  paid  £4000,  a  very  large  sum  at  that  time, 

1  The  type-founding  skill  of  England  Grismand,    Thomas    Wright,    Arthur 

declined  after  the  death  of  John  Day.  Nicholas,  and  Alexander  Fifield  —  pro- 

The  founders  authorized  by  the  decree  duced  no  types  of  value.  Nor  did  Moxon 

of  the  Star  Chamber  in  1637  —  John  have  any  successor  of  marked  merit. 

59 


60 


HISTOEIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


A  founder 
from  1710  to 
1738. 


Born  1692. 
Died  1766. 


Precision  of 
Caelon's  style. 


for  foreign-made  types,  punches,  and  matrices.  Even  as  late 
as  1710,  the  type-founder  Thomas  James  had  to  go  to  Hol- 
land to  buy  matrices  and  molds  not  to  be  had  in  London.1 
Hansard  says  that  "the  glorious  works  of  English  litera- 
ture which  immortalized  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  were 
originally  presented  to  the  public  through  the  medium  of 
Dutch  types." 

William  Caslon  was  the  first  English  founder  who  shook 
the  faith  of  his  countrymen  in  the  superiority  of  Dutch 
founders.2  The  merit  of  the  Caslon  types  was  not  in  their 
novelty  of  design,  but  in  their  careful  cutting  and  good 
founding.  The  beauty  of  uniformity,  about  which  Tory, 
Jaugeon,  and  Moxon  had  written,  and  which  they  thought 
could  be  had  only  by  strict  conformity  to  mathematical 
rules,  was  most  signally  shown  by  Caslon,  who  made  rules 
bend  to  suit  necessities.  No  founder  before  him  ever  suc- 
ceeded in  repeating  the  same  form  on  many  sizes  with 
such  precision  of  style.  His  largest  and  his  smallest  types 
show  unmistakable  features  of  relationship. 


1  Eowe  Mores,  in  his  "Dissertation 
on  English  Type  Founders  and  Foun- 
deries,"  prints  three  letters  written  by 
James,  in  which  he  reports  the  difficul- 
ties he  met.  The  Dutch  founders  were 
"  sly  and  jealous,"  ready  to  sell  types, 
but  matrices  and  molds  were  not  to  be 
had  at  any  price.  Athias  would  not 
allow  James  in  his  house.  Voskens 
"  watched  me  as  if  I  had  been  a  thief." 


He  had  to  deal  with  inferior  punch- 
cutters,  and  pay  high  prices. 

2  Caslon  had  served  his  time  as  an 
apprentice  to  an  engraver  on  metal, 
whose  chief  work  was  the  decoration 
of  gun-barrels,  when  his  neat  lettering 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  printer 
William  Bowyer,  who  persuaded  him 
to  devote  all  his  time  to  the  making  of 
types. 


STYLES  OF  CASLON  AND  BASKEKVILLE.       61 

ACompleat  and  Private 
List  of  all  the  Printing 
Houses  in  and  about  the 
Cities  of  London  and  West- 
minster, together  with  the 
Printers'  Names,  what  News- 
papers they  print,  and  where 
they  are  to  be  found  :  also  an 
Account  of  all  the  Printing 
Houses  in  the  Towns  in 
England;  and  humbly  laid 
before  the  Right  Honourable 
the  Lord  Viscount  Town- 

.  Bowyer,Printer. 


The  Caslon  Style  from  types  cast  in  Caslon's  matrices. 


62  HISTOEIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

The  Caslon  face  is  cleaner  and  clearer  than  that  of  any 
French  or  Dutch  founder ;  it  is  nearly  as  light,  and  is  much 

The  marked      more  inviting  than  the  best  letter  of  Jenson.    The  body- 
features  of 
caeion's  types,  mark  is  protracted  after  the  old  fashion,  as  may  be  seen  in 

the  m,  t,  O;  hair  lines  are  frequent  in  the  capital  letters, 
but  they  are  not  too  thin ;  angled  serifs  are  used  on  the  top 
line  of  the  lower  case;  the  short,  flat  serif  appears  more 
freely  on  foot  lines.  The  triangular  stub  of  Van  Dijck 
appears  in  the  serifs  of  the  capitals,  but  it  is  somewhat 
rounded  in  a  bracket-like  curve.  The  hard  angles  and  stiff 
curves  in  letters  like  a  and  g  are  not  the  fault  of  bad  taste 
or  of  carelessness  in  drawing.  Caslon  was  more  intent  on 
making  letters  readable  than  on  making  them  pretty;  he 
had  the  wit  to  see  that  some  angularity  was  really  needed 
to  give  relief  to  too  much  roundness.  It  must  also  be 
remembered  that  the  English  reader  of  1750  was  familiar 
with  Black  Letter,  and  had  not  entirely  outgrown  a  liking 
for  angles.  Caslon's  style  retained  its  supremacy  in  Eng- 
land for  more  than  fifty  years.1  It  compelled  the  respectful 
notice  of  French  and  Dutch  critics,  who  had  heretofore 
small  respect  for  English  types. 

1  "Beginning  early  in  life,  attaining  .    .    .    From  1720  to  1780  few  works 

advanced  age,  and  engraving  for  him-  were  printed  with  the  types  of  any 

self,  he  had  the  advantage  of  complet-  other  foundry.     Caslon  has  since  been 

ing  his    specimen  on  his  own    plan,  excelled  in  individual  fonts,  but  .    .    . 

For  clearness  and  uniformity,  for  the  no  foundry  has  shown  a  collection  of 

use  of  the    reader  and   the    student,  sizes  and  styles  which  equals  his  in 

it  is  doubtful  whether  it  has  been  ex-  congruity,  or  appears  so  strongly  the 

ceeded  by  any  subsequent  production,  result  of  one  mind."  Hansard,  p.  350. 


STYLES  OF  CASLON  AND  BASKEKVILLE.      63 

John  Baskerville,  of  Birmingham,  England,  was  another 

'  .          Died  1775. 

amateur  who  made  more  serious  innovations  in  the  fashion 
of  Roman  letter.1  His  first  types  were  influenced  by  the 
style  of  Caslon,  but  as  he  gained  skill  and  experience,  he 
developed  a  style  of  his  own.  His  matured  form  of  letters 

Baskerville's 

appears  to  best  advantage  in  his  folio  Bible,  and  Book  of  best  works. 
Common  Prayer,  in  which  he  shows  types  of  round,  open 
form,  without  excess  of  angles,  and  with  positive  hair  lines. 
Baskerville's  types  have  been  warmly  praised  but  inex- 
actly described  by  Dr.  Dibdin.     According  to  modern  no- 
tions, they  were  not  at  all  "  slender  and  delicate,"  but  have 

The  features 

quite  enough  of  firmness.     The  peculiarity  of  his  Roman,  as  of  MS  types. 
compared  with  other  types  of  his  time,  is  its  superior  round- 
ness, openness,  and  clearness.    His  Italic,  on  the  contrary, 
is  unusually  condensed,   and  shows  in  many  letters  the 
graces  of  the  professional  writing-master. 

1  In  172  6  Baskerville  kept  a  writing-  was  greatly  in  advance  of  his  rivals; 
school  at  Birmingham;  in  1745  he  he  made  his  presses;  mixed  his  inks; 
engaged  in  the  japanning  business,  and  hot-pressed  his  printed  sheets, 
Soon  after  he  attempted  type-found-  which  were  either  of  carefully  selected 
ing,  in  which  he  "sunk  £600  before  Dutch  manufacture,  or  English  papers 
he  could  produce  one  letter  to  please  made  under  his  own  direction.  His 
himself,  and  some  thousands  before  printing  was  not  profitable.  In  a  letter 
the  shallow  stream  of  profit  began  to  to  Walpole,  Nov.  2,  1762,  he  writes, 
flow."  Upon  the  types  he  made  he  "  This  business  of  printing  I  am  heart- 
printed  many  books  of  great  merit, —  ily  tired  of,  and  repent  I  ever  at- 
the  Bible,  in  imperial  folio ;  Paradise  tempted."  After  his  death  his  foundry 
Lost,  in  4to  and  8vo ;  Virgil,  in  4to  was  sold  in  1779  to  a  literary  society 
and  12mo;  the  Book  of  Common  of  Paris,  and  his  types  were  used  by 
Prayer,  in  8vo,  and  an  edition  of  Hor-  Beaumarchais  in  a  great  edition  of  the 
ace,  in  12mo.  As  a  printer,  Baskerville  works  of  Voltaire. 


64  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

PRATERS  and  THANKSGIVINGS 

Vponfeveral  Occafiom;  to  be  ufed  before  the  twojinal  prayers  of  the 
Litany ',  or  of  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer. 

PRATERS. 

I  For  Rain. 

OGod  heavenly  Father,  who  by  thy  Son 
Jefus  Chrift  haft  promifed  to  all  them 
that  feek  thy  kingdom  and  the  righteoufnefs 
thereof,  all  things  neceffary  to  their  bodily  fu- 
ftenance:  Send  us,  \ve  befeech  thee,  in  this 
our  neceffity,  fuch  moderate  rain  and  fhowers, 
that  we  may  receive  the  fruits  of  the  earth  to 
our  comfort,  and  to  thy  honour,  through  Jefus 
Chrift  our  Lord.  Amen. 

Fac-simile  of  Baskerville's  types,  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

Printers  of  Baskerville's  time  objected  to  this  face  as  too 
delicate  and  too  liable  to  injury;  readers  objected  to  the 
lines  as  too  fine  and  too  dazzling  to  the  eyes.  The  great- 
est  fault  of  the  new  style  seems  to  have  been  that  Basker- 
for  his  time,  ville  printed  books  from  it  with  greater  skill  and  beauty 
than  any  rival  had  done  or  could  do.  It  was  his  misfortune 
to  introduce  a  style  which  was  in  advance  of  the  abilities  of 
the  trade.  As  printing  was  then  done,  a  proper  quality  of 


STYLES    OF    OTHEE    BRITISH    TYPE-FOUNDERS.        65 


paper  and  ink,  and  proper  presses  and  pressmen,  could  not 
be  readily  found  to  do  the  types  justice.  Seventy  years 
after  Baskerville's  death,  when  all  these  conditions  were  to 

style. 

be  had,  his  style  was  revived.  It  is  still  esteemed.  To 
many  book-lovers  the  Baskerville  style  is  the  embodiment 
of  all  that  is  really  praiseworthy  in  types. 

IX 

Styles  of  other  British  Type-founders. 


EFORE  the  xvnith  century  had  closed,  the  Caslon 
style  had  been  adjudged  "too  stiff";  the  Bas- 
kerville, "too  delicate."  Of  the  two  styles,  the 
Baskerville  was  the  less  objectionable ;  but  the 
punches  and  matrices  had  gone  abroad  and  could  not  be 
recalled,  and  the  types  that  he  left  had  been  worn  out.  The  Round  and 

open  types 

taste  of  the  day  was  for  roundness  and  openness  of  form,  preferred. 
Hogarth's  new  theory  that  the  true  line  of  beauty  was  in 
the  curve  and  reversed  curve,  seems  to  have  been  accepted 
by  the  many  publishers  who  called  for  types  that  should 
have  more  of  the  curve  and  less  of  the  angle.     To  meet 
this  want,  Joseph  Jackson,  the  ablest  apprentice  of  the  first  J.  Jackson, 
Caslon,  designed  a  style  which  was  intended  to  combine  diedi792.' 
the  good  features  of  all  previous  types.     The  best  work 
done  with  Jackson's  new  types  may  be  seen  in  Macklin's  Begun  1739. 
9 


66 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


edition   of  the  Bible,   as  printed  by  Bensley — an  edition 

Macklin's  J 

Bible.  in  eight  volumes  of  large  folio,  probably  the  most  expan- 

sive edition  of  the  book  ever  published.  The  printing  was 
excellent;  the  style  of  letter  "the  most  perfect  symmetry 

P.  359.  to  which  the  art  had  at  that  time  arrived."1     One  of  the 

peculiarities  of  this  book  is  the  exclusion  of  Italic  from 
the  text.  Words  that  should  be  in  Italic  were  indicated 
by  placing  dots  under  the  vowels,  with  intent  to  avoid 
the  frequent  and  offensive  contrast  of  oblique  Italic  with 
upright  Roman. 

Jackson  died  before  the  Bible  was  complete.  His  appren- 
tice, Vincent  Figgins,  was  intrusted  with  the  cutting  and 

Figgins  began 

as  a  master  founding  of  an  exact  imitation  of  this  type,  which  he  did 
creditably.  Figgins  soon  became  a  popular  founder;  his 
styles  of  types  were  preferred  by  the  University  of  Oxford, 
and  by  many  London  publishers. 

William  Martin,  brother  of  Robert  Martin,  of  Birming- 
ham, who  had  served  apprenticeship  with  Baskerville,  was 
another  London  founder  who  favored  round  light-faced 
types.  Buhner,  of  the  Shakespeare  Press,  preferred  his  cut 


founder  in  1792. 


Martin  was  a 
founder  from 
1790  to  1817. 


1  Jackson  had  not  been  taught  punch- 
cutting  by  Caslon,  for  that  branch  of 
the  business  was  kept  by  him  pro- 
foundly secret.  All  Jackson  knew  was 
gained  by  secret  observation  and  ex- 
periment. When  he  showed  to  his 
master  his  first  punch,  which  had  been 
cut  at  home  after  work-hours,  instead 
of  receiving  praise  he  was  rewarded 


with  a  blow,  and  a  threat  to  be  sent  to 
jail  if  he  ever  made  another  attempt  at 
meddling  with  work  out  of  his  prov- 
ince. This  is  but  one  of  many  evi- 
dences of  the  narrow  jealousies  of  the 
old  type-founders.  The  elder  Caslon 
and  his  grandson,  the  third  Caslon, 
were  afterward  obliged  to  acknowl- 
edge the  merit  of  Jackson. 


STYLES    OF    OTHER    BRITISH    TYPE-FOUNDERS.        67 

of  letter,  which  he  made  use  of  to  good  advantage  in  Boy- 

Boydell's 

dell's  great  edition  of  Shakspeare.  snakspeare. 

Baskerville's  workmanship  had  raised  the  standard  of 
printing  even  higher  than  that  of  type-founding.  Book 
buyers  called  for  more  neatly  printed  books,  and  the  books 
were  soon  forthcoming.  Millar  Ritchie,  a  native  of  Scotland,  A  new  8Ch°o1 

of  printers. 

led  the  way  with  a  series  of  Latin  classics,  to  be  followed 
and  distanced  by  the  more  fortunate,  but  not  more  skillful, 
Bulmer,  Bensley,  M'Creery,  Corrall,  and  Whittingham. 

Type-founders  were  not  entirely  content  with  the  new 
styles  of  light  faces  preferred  by  the  new  school  of  book 

printers.     When  they  discovered  that  Bodoni  of  Italy  was  The  competi- 
tion of  Bodonl. 

printing  a  book1  for  an  English  author,  in  bold  types,  then 
supposed  to  be  more  beautiful  than  any  in  England,  they 
made  strong  efforts  to  checkmate  the  skillful  Italian  printer. 
Imitations  of  the  Bodoni  style  were  attempted;  the  imita- 
tors exaggerated  his  peculiarities;  they  made  sharp  hair 
lines  and  longer  body-marks  and  serifs,  but  the  great 
Italian's  style  was  never  popular  in  Great  Britain.  Nor  can 
it  be  said  that  the  new  style  of  light  faces  was  popular  with 
the  great  body  of  printers.  It  came  before  its  time.  Few 
printers  could  use  delicate  types  with  profit. 

The  time  for  light-faced  and  delicate  types  came  when  Printers  were 
needed  improvements  had  been  made  in  presses,  paper,  improvements 
and  inks.  The  iron  hand-press,  which  enabled  the  printer 

i  Hansard  specifies,  on  page  313  of  Bodoni  for  English  publishers  between 
his  Typographia,  five  books  printed  by  the  years  1791  and  1794. 


68 


HISTOKIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Improvements 
in  presses, 
paper  and  ink. 


Influence  of 
Bewick. 


Changes  of 
style  by  type- 
founders. 


to  print  the  full  size  of  a  large  sheet  at  one  impression, 
with  more  control  over  the  impression  than  had  been 
possible  on  the  old  wooden  press,  was  invented  about  1802, 
and  was  in  general  use  in  1812.  Paper  of  greater  smooth- 
ness and  finer  texture  was  made  by  paper-makers  who 
feared  the  impending  competition  of  the  Fourdrinier  ma- 
chine, which  was  in  successful  operation  soon  after.  Some 
printers  believed  that  they  had  discovered  the  secret  of 
the  smooth  paper  of  Bodoni  and  Baskerville,  and  began  to 
use  the  screw-press  for  the  pressing  of  paper  both  before 
and  after  printing.  The  brilliant  black  ink  of  Baskerville 
had  compelled  ink-makers  to  emulation.  But  the  greatest 
impulse  to  fine  printing  was  given  by  a  man  who  had  never 
been  taught  type-making  or  printing  processes.  Thomas 
Bewick,  the  reviver  of  engraving  on  wood,  had  demonstrated 
that  even  from  such  a  frail  substance  as  boxwood  it  was 
possible  to  produce  printed  lines  of  a  delicacy  which  had 
been  thought  attainable  only  by  the  process  of  copper-plate 
printing. 

When  it  was  demonstrated  that  hair  lines  could  be 
fairly  printed  upon  an  ordinary  hand-press,  type-founders 
began  to  cut  finer  lines  for  all  new  faces.  Stubby  serifs 
were  rejected,  the  hair  lines  were  sharpened  and  extended, 
and  the  body-marks  were  tapered  down  to  meet  hair  lines. 
Without  meaning  to  do  so,  the  punch-cutters  of  this  new 
style  were  really  more  intent  on  showing  how  truly  they 
could  make  curves  and  tapers,  than  they  were  on  making 


STYLES     OF    OTHEK    BRITISH    TYPE-FOUNDEKS.       69 

legible  letters.  They  forgot  that  the  perspicuity  of  letters 
depended  quite  as  much  on  their  well-balanced  irregularity 
as  on  their  uniformity ;  that  a  certain  degree  of  angularity 
and  hardness  or  stiffness  of  form  arrested  the  eye  much 
more  readily  than  a  monotonous  roundness.  The  new 
styles  were  admired,  but  only  when  the  larger  sizes  were 

Ineffectiveness 

used  in  large  books.  They  were  never  effective  for  com-  of  new  styles. 
mon  or  ordinary  books,  or  for  newspapers.  Feeble-faced 
types  made  ordinary  printing  seem  gray,  fuzzy,  and  indis- 
tinct, especially  so  when  the  printing  was  done,  as  much 
of  it  had  to  be  done,  with  weak  ink  on  poor  paper.  Old- 
fashioned  printers,  and  readers  with  failing  eyesight,  called 
for  blacker  printing  and  bolder  types. 

To  meet  this  reasonable  request,  Robert  Thorne  of 
London  introduced  a  new  style,  which  has  ever  since  About  mo. 
been  known  as  the  Bold-face.  It  was  almost  as  somber  as 
the  old  Black  Letter.  The  thickened  body-marks  made  the 
page  blacker,  but  blackness  did  not  make  it  more  readable. 
Indeed,  it  was  not  as  readable  as  a  page  in  the  Caslon  style, 
for  the  bold-faced  types  had  no  proper  relief  of  white  either 
within  or  without  the  letters.  In  spite  of  this  grave  fault, 
the  Bold-face  was  a  popular  type  for  at  least  thirty  years,  Popularity  of 

7    the  Bold-face. 

both  in  England  and  in  America,  but  it  was  most  pleasing 
when  it  was  new  or  little  worn.  As  first  made,  the  serifs 
were  in  the  French  style — long,  thin,  and  without  sup- 
port. Type-founders  showed  them  as  evidences  of  care- 
ful cutting  and  even  lining.  Printers  showed  them  as 


70  THORNE'S  BOLD-FACE. 

IT  is  a  greater  misfortune  that  all  the 
early  chronicles  of  printing  were  writ- 
ten in  a  dead  language.  Wolf's  collection 
of  Typographic  Monuments,  which  in- 
cludes nearly  every  paper  of  value  written 
before  1740,  is  in  Latin ;  the  valuable 
books  of  Meerman,  Maittaire,  and  Scho- 
epflin  are  also  in  Latin.  To  the  general 
reader  these  are  sealed  books :  to  the 
student,  who  seeks  exact  knowledge  of 
the  methods  of  the  first  printers,  they  are 
tiresome  books.  Written  for  the  informa- 
tion of  librarians  rather  than  of  printers, 
it  is  but  proper  that  these  books  should 
devote  the  largest  space  to  a  review  of 
the  controversy  or  to  a  description  of  early 
editions ;  but  it  is  strange  that  they  should 
so  imperfectly  describe  the  construction 
and  appearance  of  early  types  and  the 
usages  of  the  early  printers.  The  me- 
chanical features  of  typography  were,  ap- 
parently, neglected  as  of  little  importance. 

The  Bold-face  style  of  Robert  Thorne.     From  the  foundry  of  George  Brace's 
Son  &  Co.     Great  Primer  No.  1. 


THE    SCOTCH-FACE.  71 

THE  word  printing  has  acquired  a  conventional 
meaning  not  entirely  warranted  by  its  derivation. 
It  means  much  more  than  impression.  It  is  commonly 
understood  as  a  process  in  which  paper  and  ink  are 
employed  in  conjunction  with  impression. 

Printing  and  typography  are  not  strictly  synony- 
mous, as  might  be  inferred  from  the  definitions.  Typog- 
raphy, although  the  most  useful,  is  not  the  only  form 
of  printing.  Printing  on  paper  with  ink  is  done  by 
four  methods.  Each  method  is,  practically,  a  separate 
art,  distinct  from  its  rivals  in  its  theory,  in  its  process, 
and  its  application.  These  methods  are : 

Steel-plate  or  Copper-plate  printing,  in  which  the 
subject  is  printed  from  an  etching  or  engraving  below 
the  surface  of  a  plate  of  steel  or  copper. 

Lithography,  in  which  the  subject  is  printed  from  a 
transferred  engraving  on  the  surface  of  a  prepared  stone. 

Typography,  in  which  the  subject  is  printed  from  a 
combination  of  movable  metal  types  cast  in  high  relief. 

Xylography,  in  which  the  subject  is  printed  from 
a  design  engraved  on  a  block  of  wood  in  high  relief. 

The  distinct  nature  of  the  substances  in  use  for  print- 
ing surfaces  by  the  four  methods  should  be  enough  to 
teach  us  that  the  methods  are  entirely  different.  But 
the  manner  in  which  the  letters,  designs,  or  figures  of 
each  method  are  put  on  the  respective  printing  sur- 
faces will  show  the  differences  more  noticeably. 

The  Scotch-face  style.     From  the  foundry  of  George  Brace's  Son  &  Co. 
English  No.  19. 


72 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Weakness  of 
the  Bold-face. 


Wilson  began 
ae  a  founder 
In  1742. 


Andrew  Fou- 
lis,  born  1712, 
died  1775. 
Robert  Foulis, 
born  1707,  died 
1776. 


Page  370. 


their  evidences  of  clean  presswork.  But  whether  attached 
to  light  faces  or  bold  faces,  they  were  not  durable ;  they 
gapped  or  broke  off  after  moderate  wear,  and  made  com- 
paratively new  types  seem  old  and  badly  worn.  It  took 
some  time  for  printers  to  discover  that  the  bold-faces 
were  not  durable;  that  they  called  for  more  pressure  than 
the  older  styles,  and  that  the  hair  lines  were  not  fairly  pro- 
tected against  this  overpressure.  They  began  to  seek  a 
more  durable  form,  which  they  found  in  the  letter  of  Scotch 
type-founders,  who  had  been  neglected  for  many  years. 

Alexander  Wilson,  the  first  type-founder  of  Scotland,  like 
many  of  his  predecessors,  was  an  amateur,  entirely  self- 
taught  in  the  art.  More  clearly  than  any  of  his  rivals,  he 
understood  the  importance  of  making  types  that  were  useful 
as  well  as  comely.  That  they  were  good  as  well  as  strong 
may  be  inferred  from  their  use  by  Andrew  and  Robert 
Foulis,  whose  editions  of  classic  authors  will  compare  honor- 
ably with  those  of  Barbou  or  Didot.  Wilson's  sons  main- 
tained the  reputation  of  their  father.  They  in  turn  set  an 
example  to  their  successors,  which  has  been  so  strong  that 
the  words  Scotch  type  are  regarded  by  all  printers  as  the 
synonyms  of  very  high  mechanical  merit.  Hansard  highly 
praised  them  for  their  refusal  to  adopt  the  French  flat  serif, 
and  for  their  adherence  to  the  best  features  of  the  older 
forms.  But  not  long  after  this  praise  was  written,  the 
Scotch  founders  were  making  faces  as  light  and  hair  lines 
as  sharp  as  those  of  any  French  or  English  founder.  The 


STYLES    OF    OTHER    BRITISH    TYPE-FOUNDERS.        73 

taste  of  the  time  was  for  sharp  hair  lines  and  light  open 
faces,  and  they  were  obliged  to  conform  to  it. 

They  conformed  with  much  intelligence.     The  hair-line  The  new 

Scotch  face. 

serif  was  connected  to  the  body-mark  by  means  of  a 
bracket-like  curve,  supported  by  a  sloping  shoulder,  which 
gave  it  strength,  while  it  did  not  rob  it  of  its  old  lightness 
and  delicacy ;  the  round  form  of  the  Baskerville  letter  was 
preserved,  and  made  more  graceful  by  smoother  curves; 
but  the  curves  were  more  elliptical  than  round ;  the  letters 
were  more  closely  fitted  and  made  more  compact.  Here 
was  a  type  which  gave  promise  of  adaptability  to  the  best 

Its  excellent 

or  the  cheapest  books, — a  type  probably  as  durable  as  it  workmanship, 
was  comely.  The  graceful  appearance  of  the  new  style,  as 
well  as  its  superior .  mechanical  execution,  made  it  popular 
everywhere.  In  France  it  was  called  ^cossais ;  and  the 
name  of  Scotch-face  was  then  given  by  printers,  too  often 
inexactly,  to  every  face  in  which  bracketed  serifs  were 
joined  to  sharp  hair  lines  or  graceful  curves. 

This  fashion  had  its  day.  After  a  long  trial,  discreet 
publishers  decided  that  although  it  was  admirable  in  books 
of  poetry  and  the  fine  arts,  it  was  too  ornate,  too  graceful, 
too  feminine  for  books  of  history,  science,  or  theology.  It 

Not  entirely 

was  dazzling  to  the  eye;  it  lacked  firmness  and  boldness,  satisfactory. 
Old-fashioned  readers  disapproved  of  it  from  the  beginning 
of  the  fashion,  as  decidedly  inferior  to  the  style  of  the 
first  Caslon.  They  had  reason.  The  hair  line  of  this  Scotch 
face,  as  well  as  of  many  imitations,  is  almost  the  ideal 
10 


74 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Lacking  in 
legibility. 


Types  made 
to  suit  new 
methods  of 
printing. 


mathematical  line:  it  has  extension,  but  no  appreciable 
width.  When  printed,  as  much  of  the  book  printing  of 
America  has  been  done  for  the  past  twenty  years,  on  dry 
calendered  paper,  after  an  inking  from  hard  rollers  filmed 
with  stiff  ink  against  a  hard  surface  that  would  not  thicken 
the  line,  it  showed  a  faintness  and  feebleness  that  had  been 
seen  only  in  a  print  from  copper  or  steel  plate.  Here  it 
may  be  necessary  to  show,  although  somewhat  out  of  the 
order  of  time,  how  the  fashions  of  types  have  been  changed 
to  suit  different  methods  of  printing. 

Before  1845,  all  kinds  of  book  and  job  printing  had  been 
done,  in  America,  on  dampened  paper,  by  flat  platen  press- 
ure against  thick  woolen  blankets,  or  other  elastic  resisting 
surface.  About,  and  perhaps  a  little  before,  1850,  calen- 
dering rollers  were  used  in  American  paper-mills,  and  book 
papers  of  smooth  glossy  surface,  that  did  not  require  damp- 
ening, were  to  be  had  in  every  paper-warehouse.  On  this 
smooth  paper  it  was  not  necessary  to  make  use  of  an  elastic 
resisting  surface  to  sink  the  types  in  the  fabric,  as  was 
necessary  on  all  rough  papers.  It  was  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  rough  paper  pliable  and  susceptible  to 
impression  that  it  had  been  dampened.  Job  printers  who 
made  use  of  small  platen  job-presses,  and  wood-cut  printers 
who  printed  wood-cuts  from  the  wood  on  hand-presses, 
found  that  they  got  the  cleanest  and  sharpest  impressions 
on  smooth  dry  paper  against  an  inelastic  impression  sur- 
face. In  1850,  cylinder  presses  were  used  with  marked 


STYLES    OF    OTHEK    BRITISH    TYPE-FOUNDERS.        75 

success  for  fine  printing  on  dry  paper.  A  new  standard 
of  merit  in  presswork  was  established.  A  printed  page 
was  esteemed,  not,  as  before,  for  its  blackness,  but  for  its 
lightness ;  if  the  hair  lines  could  be  shown  with  the  razor-  Type-founders 

imitate  style 

like  sharpness  of  a  copper-plate  line,  grayness  or  weakness  of  engravers, 
on  the  body-marks  would  be  overlooked.     Faces  of  type 
that  showed  extremely  fine  lines  were  admired :  the  nearer 
the  imitation  of  copper-plate,  the  greater  the  merit. 

Type-founders  did  all  they  could  to  promote  this  false 
taste,  for  they  were  as  much  pleased  as  printers  to  discover 
that  they  could  make  fine  lines.  Before  1836  they  could 
not  have  made  them  by  the  process  of  hand-casting  from 
hand  moulds.  It  was  not  until  the  type-casting  machine 

Largely  aided 

had  been  perfected  that  these  delicate  hair  lines  could  be  by  new  type- 
casting ma- 
made  with  unvarying  uniformity.    Neither  printer  nor  type-  dimes. 

founder  could  see  any  impropriety  in  sharp  hair  lines. 
They  were  regarded  as  evidences  of  skill,  beyond  the  reach 
of  old-fashioned  or  inferior  workmen,  and  for  that  reason 
to  be  maintained. 


X 


Types  of  Bodoni,  Fournier,  Didot,  and  of  later  French  Founders. 


Born  1740. 
Died  1813. 


Formality  of 
the  types  of 
Bodoni. 


IAMBATTISTA  BODONI  of  Parma  was  the  first 
Italian  after  Aldus  who  won  the  highest  honors 
of  typography.  Unlike  Aldus,  his  taste  was 
for  large  types  and  great  books.  The  ordinary 
folio  page  was  not  big  enough  to  show  his  broad  plans. 
For  his  master-pieces  he  insisted  on  leaves  so  wide  that 
the  largest  press  then  in  use  could  print  only  one  page  at 
an  impression.  These  large  leaves  gave  ample  space  for 
noble  printing,  but  they  entailed  an  objectionable  method  of 
binding,  for  the  flat,  unfolded  leaves  could  be  bound  only  by 
"whipstitching"  them  on  the  raw  edge.  He  made  the  pecu- 
liar types  of  many  languages,  some  of  great  merit ;  but  he 
did  not  show  the  highest  skill  in  his  Roman  and  Italic. 
His  Koman  has  very  long  ascenders  and  descenders,  thick 
body-marks,  sharp  hair  lines,  and  flat  serifs.  It  betrays  a 
servile  obedience  to  mechanical  rules  and  to  geometrical 
notions  of  propriety  of  form.  His  Italic  has  more  freedom, 
but  the  inflexible  parallelism  of  his  long  body-marks,  and 
his  excessive  nicety  in  even  lining,  at  the  top  as  well  as  at 
the  foot  of  lines,  making  round  letters  tend  to  squareness, 


r  RANCOIS,  due  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  auteur 
des  Reflexions  morales,  naquit  en  1618. 

Son  education  fut  negligee;  mais  la  nature 
supplea  a  F  instruction. 

II  avoit ,  dit  madame  de  Maintenon ,  une 
physionomie  heureuse ,  Fair  grand,  beaucoup 
d'esprit,  et  peu  de  savoir. 


77" 

wousavez  recu  les  felicitations  de  FItalie 
sur  le  manage  de  VHeritier  de  vos  vertus 
et  d°un  nom  illustre  dans  les  fastes  de  la 
Ville  de  Bologne;  daignez  agreer  aussi 

Fac-simile  of  the  Roman  and  Italic  of  Bodoni,  from  his  edition,  in  folio,  of  Rochefoucauld's  Maxims.  77 


78 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


are  wearisome  to  the  eye.    Yet  he  made  his  types   look 

Beauty  of  his 

printing.  beautiful  by  printing  them  beautifully.  Always  using  the 
blackest  of  ink  on  the  smoothest  of  paper,  always  providing 
broad  spaces  of  white  relief  between  his  lines  and  in  the 
margin,  always  using  new  types  and  clean  balls,  always 
hot-pressing  his  sheets, —  he  showed  printing  with  a  perfec- 
tion of  workmanship  that  astonished  as  much  as  it  delighted 
the  literary  world.  On  the  smaller  sizes  of  type  his  cut  of 
letter  is  not  so  pleasing,  nor  was  his  presswork  on  the  small 
types  of  greater  superiority  than  that  of  Barbou  of  Paris, 
or  of  Millar  Ritchie  and  Corrall  of  London. 

The  most  noticeable  exhibition  of  skill  in  recent  Italian 

Microscopic 

type  of  Milan,  type-founding  is  in  the  strongest  contrast  to  the  heroic 
style  of  Bodoni.  It  is  the  type  of  a  dainty  miniature  edition 
of  "  La  Divina  Commedia,"  printed  at  Milan  in  1878,  on  a 
leaf  about  If  by  2£  inches  —  a  "microscopic  type"  about 
twenty  lines  to  the  inch. 
France  has  steadily  maintained  her  early  reputation  for 

Early  French 

punch-cutters,  good  punch-cutters.  The  Imprimerie  Royale"  gave  em- 
ployment from  1640  to  1790  to  some  of  the  more  famous: 
to  Grand  jean  and  Alexandre,  to  the  family  of  Luce,  father, 
son,  and  grandson,  as  well  as  to  Firmin-Didot,  Marcellin 
Legrand,  Jacquemin,  Delafoiid,  and  Leger-Didot,  of  later 
date.  Their  work  and  those  of  their  rivals  and  predecessors 
are  shown  with  magnificence  in  the  "  Specimen  Typogra- 
phique"  of  1845,  of  the  then  French  Royal  Printing-house. 
This  book  exhibits  a  bewildering  variety  of  types  of  foreign 


TYPES    OF    FOURNIER    AND    DIDOT.  79 

languages,  many  of  the  greatest  beauty — but  it  does  not 
show  many  Roman  types  of  decided  superiority.1 

The  forms  of  Roman  type  made  in  France  during  the 
xvmth  century,  which  modern  taste  calls  the  best,  are  those 

Born  1712. 

of  Pierre  Simon  Founder,  of  Paris.     His  faces  are  angular,  Died  nes. 

but  they  are  firm  and  clear,  well  designed  and  clean  cut,  not 

unlike  those  of  Caslon  in  general  effect.    Fournier  rendered  Merit  of  the 

types  of 

a  great  service  to  typography  by  the  invention  of  the  sys-  Foamier, 
tern  of  "typographic  points," — for  determining  the  sizes  and 
the  proportions  of  types, — a  system  which  was  gradually 
adopted  by  all  the  founders  in  France.  His  merit  as  a 
type-founder  is  fairly  proved  by  the  two  volumes  of  his 
"Manuel  Typographique,"  beautifully  printed  by  Barbou, 
which  shows  many  styles  of  Roman  cut  by  his  own  hand. 
They  fully  justify  the  good  taste  of  numerous  French  pub- 
lishers who  have  never  abandoned  his  models. 

The  Didot  family  has  done  much  for  the  honor  of  French 

Bom  173O 

typography.    Francois  Ambroise  Didot  made  great  improve-  Died  ISM. 
ments  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  and  became  famous  as 
the  printer  of  many  beautiful  editions.     He  readjusted  the 

1  The  French  forms  of  Roman  types  both  the    Roman    and    Italic   of    the 

have  been  out  of  favor  in  England  for  French  school."    Many  of  the  smaller 

more  than  a  century.      Hansard  says  French    foundries    made    types    bad 

(p.  382),  "  The  worst  pretender  to  the  enough  to  justify  this  severe  criticism, 

art  of  letter-founding  in  this  country  Nor  were  all  the  punch-cutters  of  the 

needs  never  light  a  furnace  again  were  Royal  Printing-house  of  uniform  merit, 

he  to  show  such  disproportionate  cut-  Firmin-Didot  cannot  refrain  from  cen- 

ting,  such  miserable  lining,  and  such  suring  the  pearl  types  of  Louis  Luce, 

despicable  casting  as  are  exhibited  in  as  types  that  could  not  be  read. 


80 


HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Born  1765. 
Died  1852. 


Microscopic 
types  of  Didot. 


Born  1794. 
Died  1871. 


Types  of 
Jules  Didot. 


Large  face  of 
Fournier. 


typographic  points  of  Fournier,  and  established  the  system 
of  sizes  which  is  now  in  use.  His  son,  Henri  Didot,  was 
a  famous  punch-cutter;  at  the  age  of  66  he  cut  punches 
for  the  smallest  microscopic  types  known, — about  twenty- 
five  lines  to  the  inch, — on  which  he  printed  the  Maxims  of 
Rochefoucauld.  Pierre  Didot  was  equally  celebrated  as  a 
skillful  founder  and  printer.  Jules,  his  son,  was  a  worthy 
successor. 

The  form  of  Roman  type  which  was  in  highest  favor  in 
Paris  at  the  beginning  of  this  century  is  fairly  shown  in  the 
following  illustration  of  the  types  of  Jules  Didot.  A  strain- 
ing after  originality  may  be  detected  in  the  forms  of  the 
letters  S  and  ff,  but,  as  a  whole,  this  face  is  not  original 
or  characteristic.  Even  when  the  types  are  "set  solid"  or 
compact,  they  have  the  appearance  of  "leaded  matter."  Its 
readability  is  due  largely  to  the  broad  relief  of  white  space 
about  every  letter.  Like  the  Bodoni  letter,  it  is  wasteful  of 
space.  The  flat  extended  serif  is  in  imitation  of  the  style 
of  Jaugeon ;  the  tall  ascenders  and  descenders,  the  squared 
forms  of  small  letters,  the  wide  spaces  between  lines  and 
in  the  margin  are  in  imitation  of  the  style  of  Bodoni.  It 
was  shown  with  best  effect  in  large  sizes.  In  the  smaller 
sizes,  it  was  not  much  more  pleasing  than  the  ordinary 
English  bold-face. 

For  plain  books,  in  which  the  greatest  compactness  of 
letter  was  desired,  another  face  was  preferred,  which  Four- 
nier presents  in  many  sizes,  in  his  "Manuel  Typographique," 


FABULA  XII. 

Pullus  ad  Margantam. 

In  sterculino  Pullus  gallinaceus 
Dum  quaerit  escam,  Margaritam  repperit, 
laces  indigno,  quanta  res,  inquit,  loco! 
Te  si  quis  pretii  cupidus  vidisset  tui, 
Olim  redtsses  ad  splendorem  pristinum. 

Fac-simlle  of  types  of  Jules  Didot,  from  an  edition  in  folio  of  JSsop's  Fables.  81 


11 


82 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Peculiarities 
of  Large  face. 


XLII. 


ClCSROj  GROS  <£IL, 

dans  le  gout 


introducing  it  as  "dans  le  gout   Hollandois."    The   short 
letters  are  compressed,  and  of  unusual  height,  while  the 

ascenders  and  descend- 
ers are  shortened.  The 
capital  letters  are  not 
condensed  at  all,  and 
seem  disproportionate- 
ly large.  The  flat  serifs 
at  the  foot  of  hues  and 
angled  serifs  at  the  top 
are  unusually  short. 
The  body-marks  are 
thinner;  the  hair  lines 
have  more  slenderness. 
Effort  has  been  made 
to  give  openness  in  the 
counters.  It  is  a  very 
readable  type,  but  not 
so  economical  of  space 
as  it  appears.  More 


JLiA  pluspart  des  homines 
de  Lettres  ne  fe  piquent  que 
de  doftrine  &  a  erudition  j 
Us  entaflent  livres  fur  livres , 
fcience  fur  fcience  quine  pro-, 
duifent  que  de  Tobfcurite' , 
de  la  fecherefle  &  du  travers 
dans  1'efprit ;  c'eft  pourquoi 
il  fe  rrouve  plus  de  gens  de 
favoir  que  de  bon  fens, 

Le  bon  fens  va  droit  au 
vrai;  1'eloquence  n'en  eft  que 
Tinterprete , .  &  tout  fon  but 
eft  de  lui  donner  de  la  force 
&  de  la  clartd :  fi  quelquefois 
elle  s'e'chappe  a  y  jeter  de 
certains  agremens,  c'eft  pour 
le  rendre  plus  aim  able* 


lines  can  be  got  in  a 
page,  but  not  so  many 
letters  in  a  line,  as  com- 
pared with  types  of 
a  more  recent  fashion 
that  have  shorter  ascenders  and  descenders.  This  style  was 

A  popular  type 

in  France.        popular  in  France  and  Holland  for  nearly  a  century  before 


Fac-simile  of  Fournier's  "  Large  Face,"  from 
the  Manuel  Typographique. 


TYPES    OF    FOURNIEK. 


XXXIV. 


its  features  were  even  imperfectly  copied  in  England.    It  has  Not  admired 
always  been  popular  in  France,  and,  with  more  or  less  of 
modification,  is  still  so 
much  in  use  that,  despite 
its   Dutch  origin,  it  is 
known  to  English  read- 
ers as  the  French  face. 
This  Large  face  had 
its   limitations   of  ser- 
French  publish- 


ClCERO    POETIQUE. 


Ui 


N  General  d'armee  recevant 
de  tomes  parts  des  plaintes  centre 
un  Munitionnaire  ,  le  fit  venir ,  & 
pour  premier  compliment  le  mena- 
<ja  de  le  faire  pendre.  Monfeigneur , 
repondit  froidement  le  Munition- 
naire ,  on  ne  pend  pas  quelqu'un  qui 
peut  difpofer  de  cent  mille  ecus ; 
&  la-deflus  ils  paflerent  dans  le  ca- 
binet. Un  inftant  apres ,  Monfieur 
le  General  en  fortit  perfuade  que 
c'etoit  un  fort  honnete-homme. 

Ceci  nous  apprend  qu'on  ne  doit, 
pas  juger  trop  predpitamment  de 
la  conduite  du  procham  ,  ni  le  con- 
damner  fans  Tentendre.  II  eft  bien 
aife  de  dire  que  certaines  gens  font 
des  fripons ,  mais  il  faut  le  prouver. 


vice. 

ers  of  taste  thought  it 
too  bold  and  coarse 
for  poetry  and  dainty 
books.  For  this  pur- 
pose Fournier  was  in- 
duced to  cut  the  ac- 
companying "  Poetic  " 
face,  which  is  more 
slender  and  has  ascend- 
ing and  descending  let- 
ters of  unusual  length. 
It  is  not  so  popular 
as  it  has  been,  but  it 
cannot  be  regarded  as 
entirely  out  of  fashion. 

One  of  the  many  varieties  of  this  condensed  face  has 
the  novelty  of  very  thin  body-marks,  with  strong  or  firm  hair 


Poetic  face  of 
Fournier. 


Fac-simile  of  Fournier's  "Poetic  Face," from 
the  Manuel  Typographique. 


84  HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

Recent  form     lines.     There  is  a  difference  in  thickness  between  body-mark 

of  Condensed 

face.  and  hair  line,  but  it  is  very  slight.    The  thinning  of  the  body-* 

mark  allows  more  relief  of  white  space  in  the  counter,  while 
the  thickened  hair  line  gives  increased  firmness  and  clear- 
ness to  each  character.  To  this  peculiarity  is  added  the 
innovation  of  capital  letters  that  are  not  so  high  as  the 
ascending  letters.  This  dwarfing  of  the  capitals,  obviously 
in  imitation  of  the  dwarfed  capitals  of  Aldus,  has  the 
merit  of  providing  a  suitable  space  for  accents.  Although 
smaller  than  usual,  these  capitals  seem  large  enough  for 
the  service  required  of  them.  In  all  texts  where  capitals 
are  used  in  excess  these  dwarfed  capitals  are  an  improve- 
ment. Although  a  compact  and  readable  letter,  largely  used 
by  French  publishers  for  the  extracts  of  a  text,  this  style 
is  not  approved  of  by  English  or  American  founders. 

Origine  de  lafamille  des  Grolier.  —  fitienne  Grolier,  pere  de  Jean  ,  attache  a  la  mai- 
son  de  Louis  XII,  devient  tresorier  de  1'armee  d'ltalie  et  elu  de  la  ville  de  Lyon.  — 
Jean  succede  a  son  pere  dans  cette  double  charge.  —  11  est  nomme  ambassadeur  a 
la  Cour  de  Rome. —  Son  fils  naturel.  —  Son  mariage.  —  Ses  enfants.  —  Nomme 
tresorier  des  finances  d'Outre-Seine  et  Yonne ,  puts  tresorier  de  France.  —  Ses 
attributions.  —  Sa  querelle  avec  Benvenuto  Cellini.  —  Ses  rapports  avec  le  mare- 
chal  de  Montmorency,  grand-maitre  de  France,  et  1'elu  Bertereau,  secretaire  du 
marechal.  —  Proces  tn  concussion  qui  lui  est  intente  par  la  Cour  des  comptes  au 
Parlement;  heureuse  issue  de  ce  proces  juge  par  Christophe  de  Thou.  —  Admoni- 
tions qu'il  rec.oit  du  Parlement  pour  1'entretien  du  Palais. 

Fac-simile  of  a  recent  form  of  French  Condensed  Face. 


XI 


Revival  of  Old  Style. 

NE  evil  that  followed  the  rapid  changes  in  the 
styles  of  type  made  during  the  first  half  of  this 
century  was  the  employment,  often  unavoidable,  Faults  of 
of  two  or  more  of  these  styles  in  the  same  book,  after  isof6 
Many  of  the  new  styles  had  been  cut  for  a  particular  book, 
and  had  been  cast  to  one  size  only ;  few  were  made  in  a  full 
series  of  graduated  sizes.  A  text  in  bold  face  sometimes 
had  extracts  in  round  light  face  and  notes  in  angular  con- 
densed face  —  styles  painfully  unlike,  and  to  the  eye  of  the 
educated  reader  as  offensive  as  a  page  of  manuscript  in  three 
different  styles  of  handwriting.1  Another  and  a  greater 
evil  was  the  tendency  of  punch-cutters  to  develop  features 
of  delicacy  and  prettiness  rather  than  those  which  gave  I 


weak. 


i ' '  Upon  comparing  the  books  of  the 
time  of  the  celebrated  William  Caslon 
with  those  of  the  present  day,  it  will 
be  seen  that  a  complete  change  in  the 
shape  and  styles  of  types  has  taken 
place.  His  founts  rarely  occur  in 
modern  use,  but  they  have  too  fre- 
quently been  superseded  by  others 
which  can  claim  no  excellence  over 


them.  In  fact,  the  book-printing  of 
the  present  day  is  disgraced  by  a  mixt- 
ure of  fat,  lean,  and  heterogeneous 
types,  which  to  the  eye  of  taste  is  truly 
disgusting;  and  it  may  perhaps  be  said 
with  truth  that  a  much  greater  im- 
provement has  taken  place  in  the 
printing  of  hand-bills  than  of  books." 
Hansard,  Typographic/,,  p.  355. 


86 


HISTOKIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Pickering's 
preference  for 
strong  types. 


Born  1767. 
Died  1840. 


Restoration 
of  Caslon's 
matrices. 


Provoked 
criticism. 


strength  and  legibility.  The  reform,  or  rather  the  return  to 
simpler  methods,  was  begun  by  William  Pickering  of  Lon- 
don, the  publisher  so  deservedly  honored  for  his  good  taste 
in  making  books. 

About  the  year  1850,  he  planned  the  reprint  of  a  book 
of  the  xvnith  century  for  which  he  needed  a  characteristic 
and  appropriate  type.  Neither  Whittingham  nor  any  other 
printer  of  London  had  the  type  he  wanted.  Of  bold,  black 
and  uncouth  types,  of  mechanically  neat  but  characterless 
types,  of  round,  gracef ul  and  femininely  delicate  types,  there 
was  abundant  supply ;  of  what  might  be  called  masculine 
types,  that  should  show  at  a  glance  that  they  had  been  made 
with  the  direct  purpose  of  helping  the  reader,  and  not  at  all 
to  show  the  skill  of  the  punch-cutter,  not  one  style  could  be 
found  in  the  stock  of  any  printing-house.  Disappointed  but 
not  defeated,  he  went  to  the  type-founders.  There  he  found 
not  types  but  matrices.  He  persuaded  the  Caslon  house  to 
take  out  of  their  punch-closet  a  series  of  matrices  made  by 
the  first  Caslon,  which  had  been  put  aside  as  "  too  old- 
fashioned,"  and  to  cast  therefrom  a  font  of  types  which 
was  at  once  put  to  service. 

The  book  made  from  these  types  was  beautifully  printed, 
but  the  strange  letter  provoked  criticism.  Some  said  that 
this  revival  of  an  obsolete  style  was  an  affectation,  an  exhi- 
bition of  typographical  pedantry.  Young  readers  did  not 
like  it  at  all ;  old  readers  liked  it  much.  Even  the  careless 
reader,  prejudiced  against  it  on  first  sight,  who  knew  noth- 


REVIVAL    OF    OLD     STYLE.  87 

ing  of  its  history  and  cared  nothing  for  its  associations,  had 
to  admit,  after  an  hour's  perusal,  that  the  types  were  easy 
to  be  read.  A  few  months  of  familiarity  established  the 
old  style  in  general  favor.  Pickering  was  encouraged  to  popular, 
make  use  of  it  for  other  works.  Then  other  publishers 
began  to  inquire  for  printers  who  had  old  style  types,  and 
other  type-founders  restored  to  useful  service  the  neglected 
and  despised  matrices  of  the  previous  century.  In  a  few 
years,  the  old  style  was  as  popular  in  France  and  America  as 
it  was  in  Great  Britain ;  it  became  a  letter  necessary  to  the 
equipment  of  every  good  book  printing-house. 
Not  all  of  the  restorations  made  by  the  different  founders  injudicious 

restoration 

were  warrantable.  Some  suites  of  matrices  were  drives  of  of  bad  types, 
badly  cut  punches  that  never  should  have  been  made — that 
never  were  used  even  in  their  own  period  by  any  reputable 
printer.  To  a  few  undiscriminating  publishers  who  seemed 
to  think,  if  they  thought  at  all  about  it,  that  bad  workman- 
ship would  be  regarded  by  the  reader  as  evidence  of  greater 
age,  the  uncouthness  of  mean  designs  gave  the  types  higher 
value.  Some  grave  mistakes  were  made  then,  and  are  made 
now,  in  the  selection  of  old  style  letter  for  good  books. 
Types  made  by  old  bunglers  in  type-founding, — types  made 
for  and  used  by  only  the  ignorant  printers  of  chap  books  iu  selection  of 
and  penny  ballads,  —  types  that  Tonson  and  even  Curll 
would  not  have  had  at  any  price,  occasionally  appear  in 
books  intended  to  suggest  the  special  good  taste  and  dis- 
crimination of  the  author  or  publisher. 


88 


HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Mannerisms 
discarded. 


Attempts  to 
add  modern 
graces. 


See  pp.  89, 91. 


Weakness  of 
the  modern 
old  style. 


The  type-founders  who  had  no  old  matrices  of  old  style  in 
their  punch-closets,  and  were  obliged  to  cut  new  punches, 
did  not  copy  the  designs  of  inexpert  founders.  They  cut 
with  intent  to  improve,  and,  in  the  main,  cut  wisely.  Obso- 
lete mannerisms  were  discarded ;  the  long  f  and  its  train  of 
double  letters  were  dropped.  The  proportions  of  each  letter 
were  re-adjusted ;  lean  letters  were  made  fat,  and  fat  letters 
made  lean,  with  view  to  better  effect  in  mass. 

Some  founders  went  far  beyond  this  in  the  line  of 
attempted  improvement.  They  rounded  hard  curves,  and 
re-adjusted  angles;  made  thinner  the  strong  body-marks, 
and  reduced  the  firm  hair  line  to  a'  razor-edge.  So  treated, 
the  character  of  the  old  style  was  seriously  changed.  The 
angular  terminations,  the  high  shoulder,  the  square  form, 
even  when  reproduced  with  great  fidelity,  were  not  enough 
to  preserve  the  general  effect.  This  modernized  old  style 
is  undoubtedly  more  popular  than  the  old  form  of  Caslon ; 
each  character  is  more  symmetrical,  but  the  combined  char- 
acters are  not  so  pleasing  in  mass.  Here  are  two  examples 
of  attempts  at  improvement.  In  the  larger  size  short 
ascenders  and  still  shorter  descenders  are  attached  to  small 
letters  of  unusual  lightness  and  roundness.  The  lines  are 
light  and  the  types  are  open,  yet  the  types  in  mass  are  gray 
in  color  and  feeble  in  effect.  In  the  smaller  size  the  light- 
ness of  the  type  is  measurably  relieved  by  a  greater  propor- 
tion of  white  space  between  the  lines,  but  in  this  size,  as  in 
the  other,  there  is  a  deficiency  in  strength  of  form  and  of 


REVIVAL    OF    OLD     STYLE.  89 

I  GIVE  and  bequeath  one  thou- 
sand pounds  for  the  use  of  one 
Journeyman  Compositor.,  .who 
is  a  man  of  good  life  and  conver- 
sation, who  shall  frequent  some 
place  of  public  worship  every 
Sunday  and  who  shall  not  have 
worked  on  a  newspaper  or  mag- 
azine for  four  years  at  least  be- 
fore such  nomination,  nor  shall 
ever  afterwards  whilst  he  holds 
this  annuity,  and  who  shall  be 
able  to  read  and  construe  Latin, 
and  at  least  to  read  Greek  flu- 
ently with  accents,  of  which  he 
shall  bring  a  testimonial  from  the 
rector  of  St.  Martin's,  Ludgate. 

Double  Small  Pica  No.  20,  from  the  foundry  of  George  Bruce's  Son  &  Co. 
An  attempt  to  combine  old  style  features  with  modern  graces. 

12 


From  the  will 
of  William 

died 


90 


HISTOEIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Firm-faced 
types  needed 
for  black 
printing. 


Old  forms  still 
in  f ftvor. 


Old  style  not 
a  descriptive; 
name. 


firmness  of  color.  The  types  are  graceful,  but  the  printed 
page  is  monotonously  gray.  Complaints  are  sometimes 
made  that  modern  printing  is  deficient  in  blackness ;  that 
the  ink  of  a  good  modern  book  cannot  be  compared  with 
that  of  an  old  book  in  the  feature  of  depth  and  vigor  of 
color.  In  many  instances  the  fault  complained  of  is  rather 
in  the  type  than  in  the  ink.  The  first  condition  for  securing 
the  vivid  blackness  desired  is  a  type  that  will  show  color — a 
type  that  has  sufficient  breadth  of  body-mark  and  firmness 
of  hair  line  to  take  off  the  inking  roller  a  reasonable  amount 
of  black  ink.  All  early  types  had  and  most  modern  types 
have  not  this  fair  flat  surface.  There  are  few  modern  pub- 
lishers who  will  allow  printers  to  select  types  of  firm  face 
for  any  work.  The  taste  of  the  time  is  for  lightness  and 
delicacy,  and  the  features  of  strength  and  boldness  have  to 
be  sacrificed  in  favor  of  this  feminine  inclination.  These 
modernized  old-style  types  are  good  illustrations  of  the 
prevailing  fashion. 

There  are  men  of  letters  who  will  accept  none  of  the 
modern  imitations.  They  concede  that  the  modern  forms 
are  more  carefully  drawn,  and  have  the  highest  mechanical 
finish,  but  they  maintain  that  in  strength,  attractiveness, 
and  perspicuity  the  old-style  letter,  as  cut  by  Caslon  and 
Fournier,  has  not  been  improved  by  any  copyist. 

Yet  many  of  the  new  forms  have  merits  of  their  own. 
Although  one  founder  has  taken  for  model  the  style  of  Cas- 
lon, another  that  of  Baskerville,  another  that  of  the  Dutch 


EEVIVAL    OF    OLD    STYLE.  91 

THE  proprietors  of  the  paper,  entituled  The  Idler,  having 
found  that  those  essays  are  inserted  in  the  newspapers 
and  magazines  with  so  little  regard  to  justice  or  decency, 
that  the  Universal  Chronicle,  in  which  they  first  appear,  is 
not  always  mentioned,  think  it  necessary  to  declare  to  the 
publishers  of  those  collections,  that  however  patiently 
they  have  hitherto  endured  these  injuries,  made  yet  more 
injurious  by  contempt,  they  have  now  determined  to 
endure  them  no  longer.  They  have  already  seen  essays, 
for  which  a  very  large  price  is  paid,  transferred  with  the 
most  shameless  rapacity  into  the  weekly  or  monthly  com- 
pilations, and  their  right,  at  least  for  the  present,  alien- 
ated from  them  before  they  could  themselves  be  said  to 

enjoy  it But  those  who  have  been  thus 

busy  with  their  sickles  in  the  fields  of  their  neighbors,  are 
henceforward  to  take  notice,  that  the  time  of  impunity  is 
at  an  end.  Whoever  shall,  without  our  leave,  lay  the 
hand  of  rapine  upon  our  papers,  is  to  expect  that  we  shall 
vindicate  our  due,  by  the  means  which  justice  prescribes, 
and  which  are  warranted  by  the  immemorial  prescriptions 
of  honourable  trade.  We  shall  lay  hold,  in  our  turn,  on 
their  copies,  degrade  them  from  the  pomp  of  wide  mar- 
gin, and  diffuse  typography,  contract  them  into  a  narrowr 
space  and  sell  them  at  an  humble  price ;  yet  not  with  a 
view  of  growing  rich  by  confiscations,  for  we  think  not 
much  better  of  money  got  by  punishment,  than  by  crimes  : 
we  shall,  therefore,  when  our  losses  are  repaid,  give  what 
profit  shall  remain  to  the  magdalens :  for  we  know  not 
who  can  be  more  properly  taxed  for  the  support  of  peni- 
tent prostitutes,  than  prostitutes  in  whom  there  yet  ap- 
pears neither  penitence  nor  shame. 

LONDON,  Jan.  5th,  1759.  SAMUEL  JOHNSON. 

Pica  No.  20,  from  the  foundry  of  George  Bruce's  Son  &  Co. 


92 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Made  to  suit 
modern  re- 
quirements. 


xviith  century 
style. 


!•:>-; i  i  >ur  la 
Typographic, 
p.  699. 


Probably  of 
French  cut. 


founders,  in  each  copy  is  noticeable  an  adaptation,  some- 
times without  any  set  purpose,  to  the  fashions  or  manner- 
isms of  the  present  time,  or  to  the  requirements  of  modern 
methods  of  presswork.  Some  are  thin,  some  are  fat,  some 
are  square,  but  all  are  labeled  old  style.  These  faces,  alike 
in  some  points,  are  unlike  in  others,  and  are  not  clearly 
denned  by  this  ambiguous  name.  The  purer  and  more 
characteristic  styles  should  be  known  by  names  that  fairly 
describe  them. 

The  Elzevir  or  xviith  century  style,  of  which  an  illustra- 
tion is  given  on  the  next  page,  is  so  called  because  it  is 
a  fac-simile  of  types  in  a  book  printed  at  Leyden  in  1659, 
probably  by  John  Elzevir.  But  we  have  little  warrant  for 
believing  that  this  "Elzevir"1  style  was  designed  by  a 
Dutch  type-founder,  for  it  is  unlike  any  type  made  by  Van 
Dijck  or  his  rivals.  Its  peculiar  features  are  those  of  the 
French  type-founders  of  that  period.  Didot  says  that  the 
most  beautiful  books  of  the  Elzevirs  were  printed  from 
types  designed  and  cast  by  Graramond  and  Sanlecque.  It 
is  probable  that  this  form  of  old  style  is  of  French  origin. 
The  most  noticeable  peculiarity  of  this  style  is  the  stubbi- 
ness  or  "  club-footedness  "  of  its  short  serifs.  Hair-lines  are 
few,  and,  when  used,  are  short  and  of  unusual  thickness. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  in  any  character  a  useless 
mark  or  stroke.  Of  all  the  typographic  forms  of  Roman 


1  This  style  of  type  was  seldom  used     types  in  France,  most  of  their  books 
by  the  Elzevirs.    Although  they  bought     were  printed  on  Dutch  types. 


TO  THE  MESSIEURS  ELZEVIR, 

PUBLISHERS    AND    PRINTERS    AT    LEYDEN. 

IAM  indebted  to  you,  and  more  so,  perhaps,  than  you  imagine. 
The  honor  of  Roman  citizenship  is  even  less  than  the  benefit 
you  have  conferred  on  me.  For  what  do  you  think  was  this 
honor  in  comparison  with  that  of  being  placed  in  the  ranks  with  your 
authors  ?  It  is  to  rank  with  the  consuls  and  senators  of  Rome  ;  it 
is  to  be  made  fellow  with  the  Sallusts  and  Ciceros  !  What  glory  it 
is  to  rightfully  say,  I  am  a  member  of  this  immortal  republic  !  I 
have  been  received  in  the  society  of  the  demi-gods  !  Practically, 
we  live  together  at  Leyden  under  the  same  roof.  Thanks  to  your 
kindness,  I  am  sometimes  facing  Pliny,  sometimes  by  the  side  of 
Seneca ;  at  other  times  I  am  placed  above  Tacitus  or  Livy.  Although 
I  have  but  a  small  place  there,  it  is  as  good  as  any  :  I  do  not 
leave  it  but  to  be  at  my  ease,  and  to  please  myself  in  this  delightful 
company.  To  say  the  least,  all  of  me  is  there,  however  small  the 
place  I  occupy.  Homer,  our  patriarch,  has  been  much  more  crowded 
than  I  am  :  he  who  lodged  him  in  a  shell  was  a  more  penurious 
manager  than  you  have  been  of  the  accommodation  you  provided. 
Whether  your  art  is  shown  in  large  or  in  small  books,  it  is  always 
to  your  credit  as  an  artisan.  There  are  workmen  who  have  won 
fame  by  making  pyramids  and  colossal  figures.  And  there  are 
others  who  are  celebrated  for  their  rings  and  seals.  Does  not  his- 
tory speak  with  esteem  of  a  four-horse  chariot  which  a  fly  could 
cover  with  its  wings?  As  this  is  well  known  —  as  perfection  in 
workmanship  is  most  frequently  conceded  to  the  skillful  handling  of 
materials,  and  not  to  their  prodigal  use  —  I  have  no  right  to  com- 
plain that  you  have  put  me  in  a  small  volume.  Although  I  am  not 
published  in  folio,  I  am  none  the  less,  gentlemen, 

Your  very  humble  and  obliged  servant, 

[Written  1651.]  BALZAC. 

The  Elzevir  or  xvnth  century  style.      Prom  the  foundry  of  Gustave  Mayeur,  Paris. 

93 


94 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Ronaldson 
Old  Style. 


Old  Style  is 
best  fitted  for 
old  books. 


capitals  known  to  me,  this  style  seems  the  closest  approach 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  early  letters  of  ancient  Rome.1 

The  most  characteristic  of  modern  faces  of  old  style  is  that 
of  the  Ronaldson  series,  from  the  foundry  of  the  MacKellar, 
Smiths  &  Jordan  Company,  in  which  the  angular  features 
of  the  face  are  developed  in  the  most  pronounced  manner. 
The  characters  are  not  so  thick  and  black  as  those  of  the 
old  founders,  but  they  are  much  more  symmetrical;  they 
are  squarer  and  more  open,  of  sharper  cut  and  of  as  clear 
and  firm  face.  The  "Ronaldson"  is  in  all  points  a  very  read- 
able and  durable  letter. 

The  continued  popularity  of  the  revived  old  style  face 
shows  that  it  is  not  a  passing  fashion.  It  has  come  to  stay. 
But  is  it  always  judiciously  used  ?  There  -are  men  of  letters 
who  hold  that  there  should  be  propriety  in  the  dress  of  the 
book  as  in  the  dress  of  the  man.  Each  should  be  of  its  own 
time.  There  are  publishers  and  printers  who  say  that  the 
old  style  face  should  be  restricted  to  reprints  of  old  books, 
or  to  sober  writings  addressed  entirely  to  the  understanding 
and  not  to  the  imagination.  The  time  may  come  when  a 
new  novel  or  poem  will  be  adjudged  as  odd  in  old  style  types 
as  the  author  would  appear  if  he  were  clothed  in  the  old 
style  garments  of  the  last  century. 


1  About  thirty  years  ago  an  unknown 
type-founder  of  Lyons  cut  (or  revived  ?) 
a  few  sizes  of  old  style  Roman  capi- 
tals, differing  greatly  from  this  xviith 
century  style,  but  remarkable  for  its 
quaintness  and  for  its  close  imitation 


of  the  mannerisms  of  the  early  Italian 
printers.  Types  of  this  style  occasion- 
ally appear  in  the  titles  of  a  few  recent 
French  books,  but  I  have  been  unable 
to  get  the  types  or  even  to  learn  the 
name  of  the  founder. 


EEVIVAL     OF    OLD    STYLE.  95 

JAMES  RONALDSON,  the  son  of  William  Ronald- 
son,  was  born  in  1768,  at  Gorgie,  near  Edinburgh, 
and  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1842.  In  1794  he 
came  to  Philadelphia,  in  the  sailing-vessel  Provi- 
dence. Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  renewed  his 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Archibald  Binny,  whom  he 
had  previously  known  in  Scotland.  For  a  year 
or  two  after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  Ronaldson 
carried  on  a  biscuit  bakery.  His  establishment 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1796,  so  that  he  found 
himself  out  of  an  occupation.  It  is  related  that 
about  this  time  he  encountered  Binny  in  an  ale- 
house; their  acquaintance  ripened  into  a  friendly 
intimacy,  and  they  soon  learned  each  other's 
views  and  prospects.  The  natural  result  was  the 
formation  of  a  copartnership  between  them,  be- 
ginning November  i,  1796,  establishing  the  first 
permanent  type-foundry  in  the  United  States. 
Ronaldson  furnished  the  greater  portion  of  the 
capital,  and  assumed  control  of  the  financial 
branch  of  the  business.  Binny,  who  was  a  prac- 
tical type-founder,  and  had  carried  on  the  business 
in  Edinburgh,  contributed  his  tools,  stock  of 
metal,  and  types,  and  superintended  the  manu- 
facturing department.  The  connection  proved 
mutually  advantageous,  and  a  prosperous  busi- 
ness was  the  result.  American  printers,  who  had 
hitherto  relied  on  British  founders  for  their  sup- 
ply of  type,  patronized  the  new  establishment, 
and,  in  Mr.  Ronaldson's  words,  "the  importation 
of  foreign  type  ceased  in  proportion  as  Binny  & 
Ronaldson  became  known  to  the  printers. 

Ronaldson  Series,  Pica  Old  Style,  No.  4.     Solid. 
From  the  foundry  of  the  MacKellar,  Smiths  &  Jordan  Company. 


XII 


Recent  forms 
of  types. 


Beginning  of 

American 

type-founding. 


Types  of  American  Founders. 

HAVE  now  to  notice  types  recently  made  which 
cannot  yet  be  regarded  as  historic.  It  seems 
necessary  to  mention  them,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  change  in 
styles.  That  some  of  them  will  be  used  for  the  printing 
of  books  that  may  be  prized  hereafter  needs  no  explana- 
tion. If  not  historic  now,  they  will  be. 

Until  the  beginning  of  this  century,  American  printers 
depended  on  the  type-founders  of  England  for  their  sup- 
plies. Types  had  been  made  here  before,  but  in  amateurish 
fashion.1  Franklin,  who  was  one  of  the  amateurs,  has  told 
us  how  he  was  compelled  to  cast  the  types  that  he  needed. 
Binny  and  Ronaldson  may  be  regarded  as  the  fathers  of 
the  art  in  this  country.  Their  success  soon  led  to  the  estab- 


i  The  earliest  -American  type-found- 
ers of  which  I  can  find  any  record  were 
Christopher  Sauer,  Germantown,  1735 

Mitchelson,  Boston,  Mass.       1768 

Abel  Buell,  New  Haven,  Conn.  1769 
John  Baine,  Philadelphia,  Penn.  1790 
Binny  &  Ronaldson,  Philadelphia,  1796 
Elihu  White  &  Wing,  Hartford,  1810 
David  &  George  Bruce,  New  York,  1814 


George  Lothian,  New  York,  1822 

William  Hagar,  New  York,  .  .  1824 
James  Conner,  New  York,  .  .  .  1827 
Laurence  Johnson,  Philadelphia,  1833 
Samuel  Nelson  Dickinson,  Boston,  1847 
Some  of  these  founders  were  printers 
before  they  began  to  make  types.  The 
date  when  they  abandoned  their  first 
art  is  not  readily  found. 


TYPES    OF    AMEKICAN    FOUNDERS.  97 

lishment  of  rival  type-foundries  in  New  York  and  Boston.  British  types 

only  taken  as 

Considering  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  pioneer  models. 
American  founders  in  getting  proper  tools  and  skilled  work- 
men, the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of  types  made  by 
them  before  1835  is  remarkable.1  Their  workmanship  was 
good,  but  not  one  style  of  the  many  they  cast  can  be  offered 
as  original  or  even  really  characteristic.  All  the  founders 
took  British  forms  for  their  models.  The  styles  of  Jackson, 
Thorne,  Fry,  Martin,  and  Wilson  successively  came  in  and 
went  out  of  fashion.  No  one  tried  to  imitate  or  to  copy  the 
styles  of  Fournier,  Didot,  Bodoni,  or  the  Dutch  founders. 
No  one  tried  to  originate  new  forms  or  features. 

The  contributions  which  America  made  to  type-founding 
were  in  the  field  of  mechanical  improvement.  The  type-  ct^nee  made 

by  invention 

casting  machine,  invented  by  David  Bruce,   Jr.,  of  New  of  type-cast- 

.  ing  machine. 

York,  in  1838,  and  soon  after  introduced  in  all  American 
foundries,  has  been  adopted,  in  its  more  valuable  features, 
by  the  type-founders  of  all  countries.  It  made  a  revolution 
in  the  business,  by  producing  types  quicker,  cheaper,  and 
better  than  they  had  been  made  by  the  old  hand-casting 
process.  Ornamental  types  which  could  not  be  profitably 
made  by  hand  were  properly  cast  by  the  machine. 

The  growing  use  of  ornamental  types  was  soon  after 
largely  increased  by  the  introduction  of  small  printing 
machines,  specially  made  for  printing  cards  and  circu- 

1  Early  American  printing  also  de-  "Cato  Major  "  and  Fry  &  Kammerer's 
serves  more  respectful  notice  than  it  edition  of  Joel  Barlow's  "Columbiad" 
has  received.  Franklin's  edition  of  are  books  of  excellent  workmanship. 

13 


98  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

lars.  of  which  the  machine  invented  by  G-eorge  P.  Gordon 

Changes  made 

by  invention     may  be  offered  as  one  of  the  earliest  and  the  most  popular. 

ing  machines.  These  machines  enabled  letter-press  printers  to  print  many 
varieties  of  printing  which  had  been  done  only  by  litho- 
graphers and  copper-plate  printers.  Clean,  sharp  impres- 
sions were  easily  obtained  on  the  new  machines  when  dry 
and  smooth  paper  was  used  against  a  hard,  inelastic  resist- 
ing surface.  After  some  years  of  successful  practice  of  this 
method,  the  process  of  dry  printing  was  adopted  on  the 
larger  machines  used  for  book  printing,  with  similar  results. 
This  attempted  rivalry  with  copper-plate,  previously  no- 
ticed, has  made  great  changes  in  the  perspicuity  of  books. 
The  firm  presswork  of  the  last  century,  the  clearness  of  text 
which  makes  reading  a  delight,  has  well-nigh  disappeared. 
We  have  in  recent  books  more  careful  presswork  from 
types  of  graceful  proportions ;  but  the  color  of  the  print  is 
too  often  more  gray  than  black,  the  lines  are  weak,  the 
letters  "run  together,"  and  are  dazzling  and  confusing,  a 
never-ending  annoyance  to  men  of  failing  eyesight.  Types 

printed  work    made  sharp  enough  by  the   type-founder   are  made  still 

new  methods,  sharper  by  feeble  presswork.  The  modern  pressman  is  daily 
enjoined  not  to  over-color,  not  to  thicken  hair  line,  not 
to  wear  out  plates  or  types.1  Cautions  like  these  induce 
him  to  take  the  safe  side;  he  gives  as  little  ink  and  as 

i  Unwillingness  to  wear  out  plates,  publisher's  objection  to  strong  press- 

or  to  pay  for  the  time  of  the  pressman  work.     But  some  wear  is  unavoidable, 

who  tries  to  prevent  or  lighten  this  Printing  is  impression,  and  impression 

wear,  is  the  underlying  motive  of  the  means  wear. 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  99 

feeble  impression  as  he  can — and  he  produces  presswork 
which  few  good  hand-pressmen  of  the  last  generation  would 
have  dared  to  offer  their  employers. 

Great  changes  in  the  appearance  of  types  are  also  made  by  changed  also 

by  different 

different  methods  of  presswork.  Rough  or  smooth  paper,  papers  and 
wet  or  dry  paper,  hard  or  elastic  impression  will  produce 
from  the  same  types  changes  in  the  appearance  of  printing 
that  seem  incredible  to  those  who  are  not  familiar  with 
practical  presswork.  An  elastic  or  "soaking"  impression 
from  new  types  on  wet,  coarse  or  laid  paper  will  have  the 
thickness  and  bluntness  of  worn-out  letter;  on  hard,  smooth 
paper,  impressed  against  hard  surface,  the  same  types  can 
be  made  to  show  hair  lines  almost  as  delicate  as  those  of  a 
copper-plate.  This  delicate  method  of  printing,  with  a  Delicate  faces 

j  •  j    v  j-i-  £   j.i  •  .of  type  now 

corresponding  delicacy  in  the  cut  ot  the  types,  is  now  in  m  fashion, 
favor,  and  it  is  seldom  that  a  printer  can  find  a  publisher 
who  will  help  him  in  any  attempt  to  change  the  fashion.1 
Daily  newspapers,  the  largest  consumers  of  types  in  this 
country,  have  necessarily  received  from  the  type-founders 
more  attention  than  books.     Peculiar  styles  have  been  de- 
signed for  newspapers  that  are  admirably  fitted  to  resist  the 
wear  of  stereotyping  by  the  papier-mache  process,  as  well 

1  Not  long  ago  Mr.  Henry  O.  Hough-  of  an  old  Venetian  book.    The  founder 

ton,  of  the  "Riverside  Press,"  solicited  declined,  saying  that  the  taste  of  the 

a  foreign  type-founder  to  make  for  him  time   was  for  light-faced   types,    and 

a  series  of  firm-faced  types,  flat  enough  that  he  would    cast    no  other.      Mr. 

to  take  generous  color,  and  firm  enough  Houghton   has    since    had    the    types 

to  withstand    strong    impression,   for  made    in    Boston.       Their  popularity 

which  he  furnished  as  models  the  types  shows  the  soundness  of  his  judgment. 


100 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Condensed 
forms  out  of 

fashion. 


A  standard 
form  for  type 
Impracticable. 


Round  and 
broad  faces 
preferred. 


as  the  rough  usage  they  have  to  receive  on  rapid  printing- 
machines.  The  style  of  type  that  promised  to  give  the 
greatest  compactness  with  the  greatest  apparent  clearness 
was  the  style  most  approved  by  newspaper  publishers  of 
forty  years  ago.  These  virtues  were  supposed  to  be  found 
in  the  highest  degree  in  types  that  were  tall  and  condensed. 
They  enabled  a  publisher  to  get  more  letters  in  a  fixed 
space  than  could  be  done  with  types  of  the  ordinary 
face;  but  they  did  not  keep  the  promise  of  greater 
readableness.  They  wore  out  sooner,  were  more  slowly 
composed,  and  justified  compositors  in  asking  a  higher 
price  for  their  work.  This  form  of  type  is  now  almost 
entirely  neglected. 

The  varieties  of  form  that  have  already  been  shown,  the 
temporary  popularity  of  a  novel  face  and  the  revival  of  a 
disused  face,  are  evidences  that  it  is  more  impracticable 
now  than  ever  to  fix  by  general  agreement  a  standard  of 
form.  Admirable  as  any  new  face  may  now  appear,  it  will 
not  always  be  popular.  Minor  changes  may  be  looked  for. 
The  style  of  types  must  be  adapted  to  suit  new  methods 
of  printing  and  stereotyping  as  well  as  to  meet  the  un- 
ceasing craving  for  novelty. 

Hound  and  open  faces  are  now  in  favor,  of  which  style 
the  types  of  this  text  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  The  bold 
face  of  the  next  page  is  another  favorite  for  quartos  and 
folios.  Faces  even  broader  than  this  are  sometimes  used 
in  books,  but  more  commonly  in  pamphlet  work. 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  101 

POSTEA  faginas  formas  plumbeis  mutauit,  has  Hadrian 
-..  „       .,  v          ,.  T  .  Junius,Bata- 

deinceps  stanneas  lecit,  quo  soliciior  mmusque  via,  P.  255. 

flexilis  esset  materia,  durabiliorque :  e  quorum 
typorum  reliquijs  qua3  superfuerant  conflata  O3n- 
ophora  vetustiora  adhuc  hodie  visuntur  in  Lau- 
rentianis  illis,  quas  dixi,  a3dibus  in  forum  pros- 
pectantibus,  habitatis  postea  a  suo  pronepote 
Gerarclo  Thoma,  quern  honoris  caussa  nomino, 
ciue  claro,  ante  paucos  hos  annos  vita  defuncto 
sene.  Fauentibus,  vt  fit,  inuento  nouo  studijs 
hominum,  quum  noua  merx,  nunquam  antea 
visa,  eniptores  yndique  exciret  cum  huberrimo 
quaestu,  creuit  simul  artis  amor,  creuit  minis- 
terium,  additi  familix  operarum  ministri,  prima 
mali  labes,  quos  inter  loannes  quidam  sine  is  (vt 
fert  suspicio)  Faustus  fuerit  ominoso  cognomine, 
hero  suo  infidus  &  infaustus,  sine  alius  eo  no- 
mine, non  magnopere  laboro,  quod  silentum 
vmbras  inquietare  nolim,  contagione  coscientia? 
quondam  dum  viuerent  tactas.  Is  ad  operas 
excusorias  sacramento  dictus,  postquam  artem 
iungendorum  characterum,  fusilium  typorum 
peritiam,  quseque  alia  earn  ad  rem  spectant,  per- 
calluisse  sibi  visus  est,  captato  opportune  tern- 
pore,  quo  non  potuit  magis  idoneum  inueniri, 
ipsa  nocte  qua3  CHBISTI  natality s  solennis  est, 
qua  cuncti  promiscue  lustralibus  sacris  operari 

Modern  Round  Face.    From  the  foundry  of  George  Bruce's  Son  &  Co, 
English  No.  13. 


102 


HISTORIC    PRINTING    TYPES. 


Light  faces  of 
round  form. 


Robert  Ste- 
phens, preface 
to  Thesaurus 
of  1572. 


For  illustrated  works  that  are  widely  leaded  and  have 
broad  margins,  the  large  and  light  round  face,  of  which 
an  illustration  is  given  on  this  page,  is  frequently  used 
with  excellent  effect.  It  is  not  a  type  that  can  be  wisely 
used  in  crowded  space. 

YOU  are  mistaken,  reader,  if  you  imagine 
this  work  (except  a  few  portions)  to 
have  been  written  in  any  other  way  than 
by  the  printer's  clock.  That  is  to  say :  as 
typographical  works  are  subjected  to  stip- 
ulated daily  tasks,  I  bound  myself  to  pro- 
duce a  stated  quantity  of  copy,  which  had  to 
be  done  at  a  fixed  hour.  E"or  was  the  time, 
short  as  it  was,  allowed  for  the  task,  exempt 
from  other  occupations  and  business  of  a 
varied  nature,  relating  to  my  professional 
and  domestic  concerns.  At  times  I  had  to 
lay  aside  my  pen  ten  times  in  one  hour. 

Pica  Light  Face,  from  the  foundry  of  Farmer,  Little  &  Co.,  New  York. 

For  the  catalogue  work  of  jobbing  printers  a  still  broader 
face  is  in  favor,  of  which  an  illustration  is  given  on  the  next 
page.  But  this  is  a  type  not  allowed  in  standard  books. 

In  the  composition  of  book  titles,  the  inflexibility  of  the 
Roman  capital  has  been  found  an  annoyance.  Where  a 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  103 

fixed  number  of  words  or  letters  are  prescribed  for  one  line,  Types  for 

7    book  titles. 

capitals  of  proper  size  are  often  found  to  be  too  thin  or  too 
thick,  making  the  line  too  long  or  too  short.  The  severer 
taste  of  the  present  day  does  not  permit  the  wide  spacing-out 
of  the  letters  of  a  short  line,  nor  the  mutilation  of  a  long  line 

THEY  that  tear  or  cut  books 
of  the  Old  or  New  Testa- 
ment, or  the   Holy  Doctors, 
or  sell  them  to  the  depravers 


of  books   or  to   the   ^pothe-     council° 


A  canon  of  a 
council  of  the 
vnth  century. 

caries,  are  ezxcomnrunicated 
for  one  year.  They  also  that 
buy  them  to  corrupt  them, 
let  them  be  excommnnicated. 

Pica  Expanded  No.  180,  from  the  foundry  of  George  Bruce's  Son  &  Co.,  New  York. 

by  a  division  with  hyphen,  as  was  customary  in  the  early  days 
of  printing.  This  difficulty  has  been  evaded,  after  a  fashion, 
by  the  use  of  expanded  and  condensed  capitals,  which  seem 

Condensed 

to  have  been  first  made  in  France  about  the  year  1830,  for  I  title  letter- 
do  not  find  them  in  books  of  earlier  date.     They  were  first 
made  in  the  varieties  of  capitals  only,  to  be  used  as  two-line 
letters  for  the  display  of  titles  or  as  initials  or  headings  of 


104 


HISTOKIC     FEINTING    TYPES. 


Condensed 
forms  going 
out  of  use. 


Difficulties  of 

composing 

title-pages. 


chapters.  Their  slender,  graceful  shapes  were  then  a  pleas- 
ing contrast  to  the  squat  and  stubby  faces  of  the  rude  old 
capital.  Publishers  preferred  them :  for  many  years  no  title 
was  regarded  as  in  good  form  if  not  composed  in  the  grace- 
ful condensed  letter.  They  have  been  cut  by  many  founders, 

FRANCOIS  AMBROISE  DIDOT  WAS  A 

FAMOUS  TYPE-FOUNDER  AND  AN  ACCURATE  PRINTER  OF 

CLASSIC  TEXTS.    BORN  1730,  DIED  1804. 

Two-line  Pearl  Condensed  No.  121,  from  the  foundry  of  George  Bruce's  Son  &  Co. 

for  all  the  useful  sizes,  and  of  every  degree  of  width,  but 
they  are  declining  in  favor.  There  are  publishers-  and 
printers  who  prohibit  them  entirely  in  titles. 

The  composition  of  title-pages  is  more  of  a  task  now 
than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  As  a  rule,  the  more  words 
there  are  in  a  title,  the  more  ineffective  is  the  composition. 
Difficulties  seem  to  increase  with  the  increase  in  styles  of 
types.  The  reader  reasonably  wants  a  title  that  shall  fairly 
set  forth  the  subject;  the  author  wants  this  too,  but  he  also 
wants  prominence  given  to  some  words  and  lines.  Trying 
to  please  the  author,  the  printer  has  to  make,  or  thinks 
he  has  to  make,  a  painfully  nice  balancing  of  long  lines 
and  short  lines,  of  big  and  little  types,  of  broad  and  narrow 
blanks,  and  to  put  in,  here  and  there,  a  sprinkling  of  Italic 
and  Black  Letter,  to  break  up  the  monotony  of  upright 
capitals.  The  effect  of  composition  done  in  this  manner  is 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  105 

seldom  pleasing,  but  authors   and  publishers  who  try  to  Largely  made 

so  by  artificial 

amend  the  work  of  the  printer  are  rarely  successful.  Not  arrangements, 
one  title  in  ten  is  good.  Nor  can  it  ever  be  made  good 
by  any  manner  of  composition  which  puts  the  cart  before 
the  horse;  which  makes  offensively  prominent  the  art 
of  the  printer  or  type-founder,  and  diverts  the  reader's 
attention  from  the  words  and  the  meaning  of  the  author 
to  the  contemplation  of  an  elaborately  artificial  arrange- 
ment.1 

These  frequent   failures   are    also  largely  the  result  of  Titles  ePoiled 

by  the  inix- 

the  "  heterogeneous  mixture "  of  styles  which  Hansard  turee  of  faces. 
denounced.  This  mixture  seems  unavoidable.  The  most 
pleasing  and  most  used  styles  of  book  texts  are  made  of  few 
sizes.  Large  and  very  large  sizes  of  the  same  style  as  the 
text  are  seldom  made,  and  are  rarely  kept  in  the  stock  of 
any  book-printer.  In  the  composition  of  a  title  the  printer 
has  to  contrast  on  the  same  page  bold  and  light  and  con- 
densed styles  in  a  manner  which  makes  a  bad  effect,  however 
careful  the  arrangement.  He  has  no  choice,  for  the  standard 
form  of  modern  Roman  letter  is  deplorably  deficient  in 
variety  of  large  sizes.  There  are  very  few  series  of  standard 
letter  which  show  graduation  of  size  and  uniformity  of 
face  as  fully  as  the  series  shown  on  the  next  page. 

1  After  many  failures  with  his  titles,  plain  round  capitals  (rejecting  all  con- 
Pickering  discarded  nearly  all  of  the  densed  styles),  he  arranged  his  title 
prevailing  typographical  rules  about  lines  with  little  or  no  display,  with  the 
the  balancing  and  the  artificial  display  simple  directness  of  the  rude  but  good 
of  lines.  Selecting  a  few  sizes  of  titles  of  the  books  of  the  early  printers. 

14 


106 


HISTOKIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Revival  of 
early  forms 
of  capitals. 


Preferences 
for  careless 
forms. 


ID  \  K 

1     1V1 


™  The  present  popularity  of  the  old  style  has  encouraged 
PM  French  type-founders  to  revive  other  early  printed  forms, 
PM  but  they  seem  to  regard  the  imitation  of  early  manu- 
PM  script  forms  as  a  reversion  to  barbarism  and  ugliness. 
PM  But  this  imitation  has  been  cleverly  done  by  artists 
P  M  who  have  undertaken  to  make  designs  for  book  titles 
P  M  an(i  book  covers.  Some  have  gone  far  beyond  early 
P  M  typographic  models,  selecting  the  early  Roman  let- 
the  plain  capital  without  serif  or  hair  line, 
an  almost  absolute  uniformity  of  thick  line. 
t^  IWI  Others  have  copied  and  exaggerated  the  manner- 
isms of  mediaeval  copyists  and  engravers, 
with  all  their  faults,  bundling  words  together 
without  proper  relief  between  lines,  dividing 
them  by  periods  and  not  by  spaces,  until  they 
are  almost  unreadable.  The  closely  huddled 
and  carelessly  formed  letters  of  Botticelli 
and  other  early  Italian  engravers  are  even 
preferred  by  many  artists  to  the  simple, 
severe,  and  easily  read  letters  of  chiseled 
inscriptions  on  the  stones  of  ancient 
Rome. 

There  has  been  an   eccentric  de- 

^V     |k  f   parture  in  another  direction.     Some 

1    ^M     j%      /•    designer  has  asked  these  questions: 

\  /         Why  copy  letter  forms  of  any  origin  ? 

J^  A.     y      A  Why  should  letters  always  be  as  stiff 

xviith  century  capitals. 


M 
M 

PM 

PM 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  107 

as  soldiers  on  parade  1    Why  should  an  0  be  round  and 

an  L  right-angled?    Why  should  types  be  made  to  line?  The  new  taste 

for  grotesque 

Why  not  give  to  printed  letters  some  of  the  dash  and  swing  forms  of  type, 
and  character  of  free-hand  copying  1    Why  not  have  printed 
letters  that  shall  be  artistic  and  aesthetic  ?     These  questions 


ON  PRONUNCIATION- 


[  abbop  sucb  fantastical  faptasrps,  sucb  117- 
Sociable  ar?d  poipt-deuise  corr^papiops;  sucb 
packers  of  optbo^papby  as  to  speak  dout  fir?e, 
Wber?  be  should  say  doubt;  det  uibep  be  sbould 
ppopoupcedebt  —  d-e-b-t,  pot  d-e-t;  be  clepetb 
a  calf,  cauf  ;  ba!f,  bauf  ;  r?ei§bboup  uocatup 
peboup;  peigb  abbpeViated  pe  :  this  is  ab- 
bon^ipable  (uL)bicb  be  cOouId  call 


it  ipsfpuQitetb  1776  of  ips^1?^-       LOIie>s  L^OUP  Lost. 

The  last  novelty.     From  the  foundry  of  George  Brace's  Son  &  Co. 

have  been  practically  answered  by  the  occasional  appearance 
on  book  covers,  and  in  the  pages  of  magazines,  of  eccentric 
forms  of  letters  which  have  been  reduced  to  types  by  many 
American  type-founders.  They  do  not  put  the  standard  or 
approved  form  of  Eoman  letter  out  of  fashion. 


108 


HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 


Plainness  of 


Many  years  ago  a  cynical  Frenchman  sneered  at  Eng- 
land as  the  country  of  a  dozen  religions  and  of  one  sauce. 
Yet  Frenchmen  and  Englishmen,  and  Americans  too,  per- 
sist in  a  simplicity  of  taste  concerning  letters  which  some 


Extract  from 


Revived,  or  an 
answer  to  Rev. 
Mr.  Increase 
Mather,  a  book 
printed  in  New 
York  in  1700. 


it 


t 


and 

tain  of 


I 

be 

^ 

t^  Dr^cc  in 
[\2e  aw  of 
^  wl^om  we  an 
tl^at  we  could  not 
t°  aDFint 
^  only 

w©  l?ave  ^ent  t^e 
fop  it^   Imppeccion,  and 
pointed    witl^     °me   J)if  fixit. 


i 

The  "Harper"  style.     Prom  the  Central  Type  Foundry,  St.  Louis. 


TYPES    OF    AMERICAN    FOUNDERS.  109 

may  regard  as   equally  narrow.     The  calligrapher  of  the 

middle  ages,  who  delighted  to  show  his  skill  in  new  forms 

of  letters,  would  despise  the  plainness  of  our  printed  books. 

There  are  modern  readers,  also,  who  admire  the  freedom  of 

the  letters  made  by  engravers ;  others,  again,  who  like  the 

quaintness  of  the  letters  of  mediaeval  books,  compared  with 

which  Eoman  and  Italic  letters  seem  stiff,  ungraceful,  and 

Incapable  of  pleasing  combinations.    To  please  these  tastes, 

and  others  not  so  severe,  modern  type-founders  make  many 

forms  of  ornamental  types ;  engravers  and  lithographers  are 

daily  devising  other  forms  of  more  or  less  ingenuity  and 

merit.     All  of  them  have  admirers;  but,  though  all  may 

be  useful,  at  least  in  the  broad  field  of  job  printing,  they  ornamental 

are   not   permitted  in  the   standard  book.     The  world  of  admitted  in 

letters  is  full  of  alphabets,  and  there  are  many  of  them  that 

can  be  easily  read,  but  printers  and  publishers  and  readers 

are  fully  agreed  that  all  standard  works  shall  be  in  Eoman. 

No  publisher  dares  print  magazines  or  important  volumes 

in  types  that  deviate  from  the  Roman  model.     Whatever 

the  subject-matter,  whether  for  the  child  in  his  nursery  or 

for  the  wise  man  in  his  study,  the  book  must  be  in  Roman ; 

for  it  is  with  types  as  with  dress — at  proper  times  man  may 

wear  any  style  of  dress  that  pleases  his  fancy,  but  when  he 

appears  in  evening  society  it  must  be  in  the  conventional 

suit.     There  is  no  appeal. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  concerning  the 
relative  merits  of  old  and  modern  types  in  the  matter  of  per-   modern  types; 


110  HISTORIC    FEINTING    TYPES. 

spicuity,  there  is  no  fair  room  for  argument  about  the  superior 
mechanical  construction  of  modern  type.  Types  were  never 
made  as  well  as  they  are  made  now.  Drawing  was  never 
so  correct.  Cutting  was  never  so  deep  and  clean,  nor  even 
lining  so  true.  The  bodies  of  types  were  never  before  made 
so  solid,  so  uniform,  so  exact.  The  mechanical  workman- 
ship of  a  second-rate  modern  founder  is  far  better  than  that 
of  Jenson  or  Van  Dijck.  It  should  be  better.  The  old 
founders  were  self-taught;  they  did  not  work  with  proper 
scientific  system ;  their  tools,  compared  with  those  now  in 
general  use,  were  rude  and  inexact.  The  greatest  fault  of 
modern  type-founding  —  the  disagreement  in  the  sizes  of 
different  foundries,  an  evil  which  seems  now  impossible 
of  correction  —  is  an  inherited  fault.  It  comes  from  the  in- 
ability of  the  old  founders  to  see  the  advantages  of  system. 
The  Roman  That  the  Eoman  letter  is  not  free  from  fault,  every  one 

letter  practi- 
cally unalter-    will  admit.     There  are  letters  that  might  be  altered  with 

able. 

advantage ;  there  are  sounds  that  need  new  characters ;  but 

every  attempt  at  the  radical  reformation  of  our  letters  has 

failed — and  there  have  been  many  between  the  "  real  char- 

1668.  acter"  of  Bishop  Wilkins  and  the  phonotypes  of  Isaac  Pit- 

1837.  man.     The  art  of  printing  seems  to  have  fixed  the  forms 

beyond  the  possibility  of  reconstruction. 


